


Voiceless

by Ysavvryl



Category: The Legend of Zelda (Video Game 1986), Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Genre: Adventure, Beast Ganon, Gen, It Makes Sense In Context, Silent Protagonist, Wilderness, Willing Outcast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-04 14:05:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 91,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5336813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysavvryl/pseuds/Ysavvryl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a child, Link was cursed with silence by the King of Beasts, Ganon.  Now he has a chance to overthrow the tyrant and save the land of Hyrule, but this will be a hard and lonely path.  Made with love for the NES games.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Village of Waterfront

It had no right to be sunny on that day, but it was. Crystal blue skies were overhead, the sun shone brightly, and the weather was beautiful. But the events in the village of Waterfront were getting ugly indeed. Just two days ago, they had gotten word that the King of Beasts, Ganon, was coming in for a visit. Everyone worried about this. Was there something wrong? Some new law to go into effect? Some new tax to be levied? Or was this just an excuse to torment the poor fisherfolk of Waterfront? It could have been any of those reasons. It could have been all of those reasons.

So the villagers gathered onto the main street of Waterfront, nervously awaiting the appearance of the great and terrible King. On the cobblestone ground, parents stood in front of their children, who were part curious and part afraid. The elders of the village inspected everyone, whispering advice to keep the King from being too angered or offended. No one knew what exactly would happen.

And then the birds fell silent. Small animals scurried out of the way and into hiding. The nervous chatter of the villagers died down. He was coming.

Ganon entered the village riding atop a massive black lynel. The steed had the body of a powerful horse, the torso of a strong man, and the head of a fearsome lion, as well as blade bones growing out of the sides of its arms. As it would accept no bridle, the King controlled it by grabbing onto its mane. No one else would dare to do such a thing. The King was like no one else. A beast man that was nine feet tall, his skin was pale blue-green and thick, like that of a boar. He had curved tusks growing from his mouth and an oxen tail growing from his lower back. His hands were large enough to crush boulders and his black hooves looked as though they could crack steel. This was why no one dared to challenge the mighty King of Beasts.

The villagers tried not to gasp or cry out in horror, instead remaining meek and silent. The children saw and feared him, clinging to their parents and now agreeing to stay out of sight. While every monster in his retinue could bully the poor humans, the King commanded respect and absolute order just in a glance.

Once in the midst of the crowd, the King of Beasts looked over the frightened villagers, then snorted. It was difficult to tell if he was amused by their compliance or angered that he would have such cowards, little more than animals in his eyes, for subjects. He dismounted the lynel and walked along the street, his brown cape curling behind him. Spotting the leader of the village, he pointed the old man out. "You! Over here, now." His voice was gruff, as if he could break out into an unearthly howl at any moment.

The old man in the red robe came forward, dropping to his knees and bowing his head. "Yes, your mighty Majesty? How may we, your humble subjects, serve you?"

"Get up," Ganon grouched, getting an immediate reaction. "Your village has been making weapons, like this." He brought out a spear, which didn't seem too impressive. It had a long wooden shaft and a metal spearhead that was tied on with rope. "What for?"

The elder was caught in a moment where he wanted to lie. He'd get punched either way, so he opted to tell the truth. "Y-yes, your majesty. We use those to fight the vicious sea Zolas."

Ganon then struck the man across the chest with the handle of the weapon. "You fool! No one is allowed to make weapons of metal! Make them with wood, or stone if you must. But no weapons can be made out of metal outside of my castle!"

The old man looked up from where he was in the road. "But, but your majesty, it's not a lot of metal…"

"No metal whatsoever!" he shouted, snapping the spear in two with just one hand. "Men, go find any more metal weapons and bring them here to be destroyed."

The beasts with him growled, then went into the villagers' houses and buildings. All of the humans stayed where they were; they worried as for what they would find when the beasts were gone. Would they destroy everything in trying to find those metal-headed spears? Would they steal the stored food stuffs? Or would they leave excrement behind which would leave a stench that would never fully come out?

While his servants were doing so, Ganon huffed and strode down the street some more, observing the village for anything else he could object to. Everything seemed to be in order, which annoyed him. Perhaps he had been looking forward to another village burning. While he ordered absolute obedience, he was said to enjoy inflicting punishment.

There was one woman who was looking queasy and pale, near the edge of the group. She was with child and suffering some ill effects from that. There was a child by her side as well. For no reason other than she was standing a bit out of the crowd, Ganon swept his hand out to shove her back.

He found a slight resistance to this as the woman stumbled back. Turning, he saw that the boy had stepped in front of her and had tried to stop Ganon from striking his mother. He had failed miserably, of course, only getting himself pushed onto the ground. As if that bit of disobedience wasn't enough, the boy had a look to his green eyes that was like steel. Not angry, not hateful, just resilient.

But that was just as much reason to pick on him. Ganon snatched the blond haired boy off the ground, holding him in the air. "Oh, you think you can defend her, do you?"

The boy nodded and started to open his mouth.

"Silence!" Ganon shouted, striking the boy's face with a curse. "You will never speak again, you miserable little mongrel." He threw the boy into a nearby tree.

The pregnant woman paled and ran to him, calling his name.

"Don't speak out of turn!" the King of Beasts shouted. "And that boy does not deserve a proper name anymore for standing against me." He thought of giving the boy an insult for a name, but soon decided that no, he should have a name that was no name, just some meaningless word. "You will call him Link from now on, and my word is absolute law. Understand?"

The woman, who was kneeling by the boy now, nodded frantically. "Ye-yes, your majesty. He will be… Link."

He snorted, but the beasts he commanded had started bringing out more of those metal tipped spears. He left the woman and boy for now to start a nice bonfire. Not enough to burn the village to the ground, as they still provided a good supply of fish. But enough to teach them a lesson.

The newly named Link stirred and looked up to his mother. He tried to say something, but no longer had a voice. Some tears came to his eyes and his mother hugged him.

* * *

 

Years passed. Waterfront had not made metal tipped weapons again, and had even increased their efforts to keep the tyrant pleased. Every day, the boys and the men of the village would go out to fish. They were allowed to keep enough to feed themselves, mostly. But in order for them to keep that privilege, the women had to contribute too, making clothes, ropes, and anything else they could to keep the terrible King satisfied.

Link was among the fishermen, even though he was cursed to be without a voice. He was a young man of sixteen years and had gotten good at the village's trade. Every morning, he went out with his father's crew on their wooden boats to drag nets and catch enough fish to make the quota. Oftentimes, he was called out to capture some harder ones, like octopus, sharks, and puffer fish. It took bravery and skill to capture the fighters of the salty ocean, and he was one of the youngest who was allowed to capture such beasts.

It was a day like any other at first, the sky dark blue in the pre-dawn hour. His father called him aside. "The palace has sent a message that they want a live red octopus, at least eight feet long," he told him. "They sent us the tank, which I'll bring aboard the Kit. Would you capture the octopus for us?"

Giving a smile, Link nodded. He liked hunting octopus. They were tricky beasts, speeding away and shooting ink at pursuers. Usually, he hunted octopi for special meals in the village. Capturing one live would be a challenge.

He father smiled. "Great, then get your supplies. And be careful: the seas may look calm today, but they can change at a moment's notice."

He nodded again, knowing the truth of this old saying. Then he went into the tool shed to get his things. It was a mud brick hut near the docks, where most people in the village kept their fishing tools.

To capture an octopus… octopi couldn't be caught with a normal hooked fishing pole, as they would either snap the pole or just be disinterested. And they would fight back. Link picked out a wooden sword with a blunted edge; he wasn't sure how damaged the palace would accept it, but this would help. He also picked out a wooden shield which had a special oil treatment that would resist the suckers on its tentacles. And if the palace wanted at least an eight foot long octopus, then he would also need a net. Something large enough to take the animal, small enough for him to handle, and strong enough to take the thrashings.

Also, he would need a depth bag. This was something the local witches made with their magic, a simple side bag made of animal skin that somehow could hold much more than it appeared to be capable of. He could easily fit the shield, the sword, and the net inside, as well as his pocket knife. The last was a gift on his last birthday, a vital tool for their trade. It was one of the few metal tools that King Ganon allowed, simply because it could not be replaced easily with things of other materials. And the pocket knife's blade wasn't large enough to make an effective weapon. It would require a person to get awful close.

With those things, Link left the tool shed and headed for his father's boat, the Kit. It was the largest one in the village, as his father was known as the best fisherman and captain in Waterfront. Thus, it was the only one that could hold the large glass tank and still have enough room to work on. Not by a lot, though. Once the other crewmen were aboard, Link's father gave orders for the sails to be raised and the fishing boat to head out.

They traveled quite a ways out to sea, the other crewmen talking animatedly amongst themselves. Link listened as always, although he could only join in with gestures. He couldn't even laugh or scream thanks to the curse Gannon put on him. Many of the villagers respected him for not giving up even in his silent state. Once they were out far enough for him to find his target, Link dove into the water.

Like other men in his village, he wore the traditional outfit for the fishermen of Waterfront. His clothes could withstand being underwater for long periods of time without being ruined. His pants were snug, but just loose enough, so that he had free movement of his legs. His belted tunic was longer and looser, but this was so biting fish found it harder to grab hold of flesh. Also, it was enough that, if he got into trouble, he could remove his shirt and use it as a pillow for sleeping on rocky beaches, or tear off an edge for use as a bandage. If he did get into trouble, he would also remove his long cap and throw it into the sea so that the others knew he was lost; his name was sewn to the inside hem. Some others in the land thought the floppy tipped hat was silly looking, but it floated easily and was a distinctive tradition. And all the fishermen wore particular colors; Link wore his family's color of a light forest green.

On getting used to the condition of the water, Link took a deep breath and dove down to search for signs of an octopus. They were normally down on the ocean floor and he wasn't past the continental shelf yet. The sunlight was enough to light up the water, but there was still some murkiness. After looking for a little while, he swam back up for another breath. A search for an octopus could take time. Even more so for a specific kind.

Before he found a red octopus, he spotted a gray one. It would make for a good meal, so he took out the sword and shield to fight that one. He lured it into pursuing him to the surface, then weakened it and swapped the shield for the net. With that one caught, he swam to his father's boat and put it in the holding tank. He gave his father a sign that he knew it wasn't the right one, he was just taking advantage of an opportunity. Then Link swam off to find a proper red octopus.

After a while longer of searching, he spotted a movement of red on his way up for breath. A moment's glance confirmed that he had his target, an octopus that looked to be nine feet long. Link got up to the surface, breathed, then took out his sword and shield again. As red octopi were particularly violent, he stayed on the surface a moment to pray to the three goddesses, Farore, Nayru, and Din, that he would have the courage, wisdom, and power to capture this beast without getting it or himself killed. Then he took a deep breath and pursued the red octopus.

It had moved, but Link was able to find it again, coasting along the ocean floor. From its slow speed, he guessed that it had no purpose in mind. Link swam faster, then brought his shield up as the octopus noticed him. It realized he was a threat and brought three of its tentacles up, then fired a cloud of ink at him.

Knowing their usual tricks, Link got upstream of the ink cloud and struck it with the flat of his sword. It curled a tentacle around the sword and tried to pull it away from him. Keeping his grip strong, Link turned himself around and kicked at the octopus with his leather boots, near its eyes. But it moved, so he couldn't daze it as he had hoped. It tried to grab hold of him, so he had to wriggle away and bash its body with the shield. This got it to let go of his sword, but then it swiped at his arm when he was vulnerable and snapped the arm band of the shield. It fell off his arm.

Kicking himself away, Link reached into his depth bag and pulled out the net. The red octopus darted after him, deciding to attack him head on. The young man swam out of the way and opened up the net, holding it at one corner. The octopus then darted at him again, heading right into the net and getting tangled up in it. Quickly, Link wrapped his arms around the octopus's body, getting it partly secured in the net. The octopus was stunned briefly by the capture, so he followed the edge around until he had the net by the four corners. Then he started heading for the surface. His heart was pounding and his lungs were trying desperately to get a fresh breath.

But then the octopus recovered and tried to dart away, spraying more ink. The cloud was thinner this time, but it was still enough to cause his eyes to sting. Struggling against it, he tried to redirect its motion towards the surface, just inches away. It struggled back, to and fro, and finally upward. Link burst through the surface of the ocean and gratefully gasped in air.

His vision was blurred from the ink attack, but he could make out a gray image on the water's surface. Although the octopus tried to jerk him away, he worked to keep it at the surface. The commotion they were causing should cause the crewmen to notice, and wear the creature down. Hoping for that, Link watched how it was moving. If it was going to try darting downward, he'd need to get a breath of air, and fast.

"Ho, Link!" one of the crewmen called out. "You got one?"

He nodded, not having a free hand to signal them normally. The octopus then jerked him roughly to the right as it tried to go down. He kicked his legs, caught in another tug of war with it. When the boat came up beside them, the octopus had stilled, running low on energy. He handed the net to two of the crewmen, then stayed in the water to make sure the octopus didn't try escaping then. While they got it in the tank, Link grabbed hold of the edge and pulled himself aboard. He was dripping water everywhere, but that was to be expected.

"That is a magnificent octopus," his father said, coming over to congratulate him. "Great work, Link. The palace should be pleased."

He nodded once, then tapped his forehead just above his eyes.

"Did its ink get you? Hang on; I brought plenty of fresh water, knowing that might happen." He went into the pilot's area, coming back with a bottle of water to help Link clean the ink out of his eyes.

"Are you going to be training him up to replace you soon?" one of the crewmen said. "I mean, he can't talk, but I thought it'd take us all day to get a red octopus big enough for King Ganon. And he manages it before lunch with only some ink in his eyes."

His father smiled. "I'd be proud to do that, but the lack of speaking might cause problems."

Link shrugged, then waved his hand. That wasn't too important to him; he just wanted the village to be safe. Then he made a circle around his wrist, and pointed back out to the sea. A curl of his hand to mimic the waves, then spreading out to indicate swimming.

"Lost your shield then and going back in the retrieve it," his father translated. "It's just a shield, but might as well not waste it. Careful down there. When you get back, we should be starting lunch." He turned to the others. "And we'll have to head back too. I know it's still early, but the King wanted this octopus as soon as possible. We've got to get it to its courier."

Bringing his sword back out, Link jumped into the salty waters once again. He swam out to where he thought the shield might be, then dove. When he got to the sea floor, he didn't see it immediately. But he swam around in circles until he spotted the small rectangular shield. He grabbed it and was gong to head right back up, but a golden glitter caught his eye. Given he didn't want to spend long down there, he grabbed the item in his sword hand, then swam back up. It was made of hard material, kind of like a metal. But it didn't have sharp edges. One was jagged, though.

He broke through the surface, got his breath, then glanced around for his father's ship. Once he had that located, he brought up his hands to look at what he had. The shield could be repaired, possibly by the end of the day. And the golden thing… it was muddy from the sea bottom, but some of its surface still sparkled. It was vaguely like a triangle, with two straight edges and the one jagged edge. It was like it broke off something.

It might be worth something, which could be traded for something more useful to the village. Or even just his family. Link tucked it into his depth bag, then swam back to his father's boat. They ate lunch and celebrated the early capture while they headed back to the village. As he got into trying to fixing the shield with one of the crewmen, he didn't think to show the golden fragment to his father.

* * *

 

Back in town, a number of the women came out to marvel at the red octopus in its large tank. It had recovered enough to glare menacingly at everyone else, daring them to reach into the tank so it could rip their hands off. The moblins who had brought in the tank seemed surprised to have the octopus so early, but then just shrugged and carted it off to their wagon. The only payment they left behind was a written statement that the octopus would count towards their taxes.

Link got the shield to a woman who could repair it, then went back to the docks. But his father just waved him off. "It's fine, Link," he said. "You take it easy the rest of the day; you deserve it."

He smiled, then bowed to his father as a way of saying thanks. Given that the tools were shared, he returned the sword and the net to the tool hut. He went to check in on his mother, who was busy with his younger siblings and trying to get her work done. He watched over his sister and brother for a little while, then sent them off to do their own work for the day. Then, he had to figure out what he wanted to do to relax.

Curious, he went to the shore and brought the golden fragment back out. Link washed the mud off, hoping to find some inscription on it. But there was nothing. However, it did not seem like gold. It was too tough to truly be that precious material. So what was it?

When he had it clean, something curious happened: the fragment began to glow. As he watched, the glow began to extend into two lines. The fragment seemed to be pointing in two different directions. It must be some kind of magical object then. Where was it trying to lead him? He moved the fragment about by passing his hand through the air, but the lines remained fixed, always pointing in the same directions. So he started walking in the direction of one of the lines. It steadily grew brighter as the other line dimmed.

As he walked along the beach, he noticed it was beginning to turn downward. He looked around and realized that he was approaching the Smoking Rock, an odd little volcano that continually spewed fountains of molten lava. While it was a dangerous area to explore, he had been here before. The local kids always claimed that there was some kind of precious treasure here, somewhere.

Link followed the fragment's glow until he reached a fire hole, a place where the fire fountains came out. This one was large, but currently inactive. The glow was still pointing downward, into the fire hole. Looking carefully inside just in case it had decided to be active, Link spotted nothing that would cause alarm. So he dropped into the fire hole and looked around.

After a short walk, the daylight started to be blocked. He worried about it being too dark to see, especially some hole in the floor. But then he spotted something odd: a wooden treasure chest. What was that doing here, in a fire hole? It was said that imps like Miniblins would steal items and hide them away in such chests, in highly dangerous place. But still, a wooden one in a fire hole? Whatever was inside would surely incinerate if the fires became active.

But it was also said that if you found a chest of the Miniblins, then the treasure inside would be yours. Link opened it, expecting something simple like a green rupee. Instead, there was a snake inside.

He let go of the chest's lid, wary a moment. Snakes were unpredictable creatures, but generally did not like to be startled. However, the snake in the chest did not move. A closer look proved that it was not real. Link pulled it out and examined the form of it, with green scales and magical runes. This, this had to be a snake rope. It was a rare item, but also quite practical.

He put the snake rope into his depth bag, but then noticed that the fragment was still glowing in this direction. Careful as the floor was now dark, he kept going. The glow grew more and more downward until Link heard a rock he had kicked tumble down a hole. It fell for a long ways before plopping into some substance. Whatever the fragment pointed to was down this hole.

And he had just picked up something handy for this kind of situation. Taking a moment to thank the goddesses, he pulled the snake rope back out and attached the head to a rock that felt quite sturdy. The head automatically bit down on the rock, putting it in place. Link then pulled on the tail, wrapping it around himself. Once it touched in a circle, the magic caused the tail to hook around the body, holding onto him. He then took a deep breath and climbed down into the pit.

The snake rope held admirably. With some coaxing and sliding his finger downward, he got the rope to extend itself. Placing his feet against the wall of the dark hole, he reached into his depth bag and pulled the fragment back out. It was more horizontal now, pointing him towards his right. When he looked there, he spotted a glitter of gold.

At first, he stepped to the side with his feet. But then he had to reach out with his right arm, pull himself over, then reach into a pocket in the wall and grab the golden glitter. He then walked back to the straight position, not wanting to risk hitting the wall and hurting himself. It was too dark to see, but it felt like another fragment. He placed both in his depth bag, then climbed the snake rope, running his finger up it to keep it taunt and short. Once he reached the top, it was easy to pull himself up, then detach the snake rope to put it back in his bag.

He left the fire hole before examining the new fragment. Just like the other one, it was a yellow triangular piece with two straight edges and one jagged. There were points where the two fragments fit together perfectly, making about half of a triangle. They were both glowing now, and pointing in the same direction. A third piece to this triangle, then?

Link followed them back to Waterfront, then through the village, than along the other stretch of beach. The second guiding line led him to another famous site around Waterfront, the Devil's Fountain. This was a cluster of rocks around a rough part of the ocean, which, at every high tide's peak, caused a strong spray of water to burst out of an underground cavity. At all other times, it gurgled and growled like some demonic beast. It was currently groaning as the high tide was growing.

He spotted a woman of his village there, so put the two fragments away. She looked distressed, crying and kneeling by the fountain hole. Link walked up to her, making his boots crunch against the loose stones to get her attention.

She spotted him, then got up. "Link? What're you doing here? Oh, never mind, can't you help me? The sea Zolas have kidnapped my baby and placed her inside the Devil's Fountain, like they're sacrificing her. Please, if you can do anything to get her back safely."

Kneeling by the hole's edge, he looked around. And yes, there was a baby inside the rocky cavern, crying but being drowned out by the cavern's groan. He patted the woman on the back, then brought out his snake rope. Thinking, he took off his shirt, then set up the rope in the same way as before.

"When did you get a snake rope?" she asked. "Although, I suppose it's pointless to ask you questions."

Link smiled at her, trying to reassure her. Then he lengthened the rope before jumping into the hole of Devil's Fountain. It jerked him when it went taunt, then he was swinging a bit. Getting his senses back, he lengthened the rope, then kicked his legs to swing himself over to where the baby was. He had to sling his shirt over his shoulder, but was able to get to the wall, then grab hold of it and climb onto the platform. Unexpectedly, he spotted another golden fragment next to her. Link took a second to retrieve that and stick it in his bag. He then wrapped her up in his shirt, then looked over the water filling the cavern. This was going to be the tricky thing. He had to be brave or neither of them might make it. He jumped off the ledge.

The mother gasped, but he kept hold of the infant, close to his chest. He let the rope steady, then ordered it to shorten back up again. On getting to the edge of the hole, he twisted himself a bit so that his back was to the rock, then brought himself up a little more until he could hand the baby to her mother.

Grateful, the young woman took her. "You're okay now. Link, thank you so much. That was amazing."

He didn't immediately reply, as he was turning himself back around and climbing out of the hole. The groan was growing louder, so he detached the head of the rope, then waved her to follow him away from the fountain. When they reached the sand part of the beach, the Devil's Fountain erupted into a cascade of water.

The mother shivered and held her baby close. "I'll get your shirt back to you when I have her blanket back. I don't know how to repay you. My child is the most precious thing I own."

Link smiled, then shook his head. He wasn't concerned about a reward. And there was the thing that had led him there in the first place. He opened up his bag and brought out the three golden fragments.

"Oh my," the mother said, seeing them sparkle in the sunlight. "What are those, I wonder. You'll want to be careful with them."

Link was focused on putting the three pieces back together. Putting all the jagged edges together caused them to form a partial triangle; one piece seemed to be missing. Even so, he could feel that it had some great power, hidden somehow. A flash of green light appeared around them, startling the mother and the baby. Energy swirled around Link, causing the partial triangle to lift off his hand and float in front of him. A thin cord emerged from one corner, then reached out and wrapped around his neck, casing the golden item to fall onto his chest.

And a voice spoke an unearthly but gentle voice, like that of an angel, or a goddess. "Finder of the sacred power of Courage, this piece of the Triforce has found you worthy of being its bearer. Brave one, receive then the blessings of Farore, which will light the dark pathways of the dungeons for you. May you find what you seek."

And then the voice and energy were gone. Link, the mother, and the baby were all back at the beach, listening to the waves of the ocean. Link was puzzled. What did this mean? He hadn't heard any talk about this.

But the mother paled. "Oh my… so that is the Triforce of Courage…" she looked down, worried.

Turning to her, he held out his hand and curled his fingers, bringing them to his chest. Tell me, he asked of her. What was this thing?

But it made her nervous and fearful. "We, we should call on the elders. They can explain better." She hurried her steps, glancing around like someone was spying on them.

Link followed. She still had his shirt, after all.

* * *

  
That evening, a town meeting was called. Link felt puzzled that this golden triangle could cause such a fuss. From the looks of many of the other young people, even those the age of the mother, he wasn't the only one. Perhaps it was too valuable a treasure to hold on to? Some of the monsters were terrible thieves who would take anything the King of Beasts determined were too valuable to be in the hands of mere peasants.

The leader of the village stepped forward, close to a large fire that was in the communal fire pit. While it was lit every night, the flags had been set up. Those only went up during festivals, holidays, or any other important event. How important was this thing he had found? The old man waved to him. "Link, come forward."

Without hesitation, he did so. The Triforce around his neck glowed orange in reflection of the fire; it caused a great many gasps and wondering whispers among those who had not seen it yet. His parents kept talking to each other quietly, deeply concerned.

"We have been told that you have somehow found the sacred Triforce piece of Courage," the village leader said, "as well as received the blessings of the goddess Farore. Is this correct?"

Link nodded, which cause a ripple of murmurs.

"Could you explain how you did so?"

He looked back to his father, who came forward. Link began making signs. Sometimes he had trouble, since the things he was trying to relate he didn't normally deal with. But his father was the one he 'spoke' with most often with these hand signs.

"The first piece you found in the ocean, after you captured the red octopus," his father said. "He had gone back down to retrieve a lost shield, and you found it then? Yes. When he… he cleaned it off and it led him to the fire holes. He found a snake rope in a miniblin chest, then used it to find the second piece. He was then led to the Devil's Fountain, where he rescued the infant and picked up the third piece. The three pieces then formed the chain which he now wears."

"I see. Strange that these pieces should all be so close to our village."

His father then looked down. "Elder?"

"Yes?"

"It… this is not the first time the Triforce of Courage has appeared in our village. It appeared several years ago," he then looked to Link, "when Ganon cursed him."

"Did it?" the old man asked. "Explain this."

He looked reluctant, but then admitted, "After we had placed him in bed to recover from hitting the tree, those three parts of the Triforce appeared in our house, in a strange glow of green light. We knew what it was, but were not sure why it appeared. It split into three, then vanished. I think… it may have been waiting on him to find it."

The elder nodded. "I see. That may be so, after he had stood up to the King of Beasts so young."

Looking to the elder, Link spread his hands out. He didn't know what this was about. So, what was it?

The elder seemed to grasp that sign. "I know the tale has been disappearing as of late. Ganon would like for us to forget about it. But the goddesses are still prayed to; they must be seeking out a way to fix things. We shall just have to pray and hope that Ganon does not watch us tonight.

"The sacred Triforce is the most powerful relic in the world, created by the love of the goddesses. It consists of three pieces, the Triforce of Courage, the Triforce of Wisdom, and the Triforce of Power, each shaped like a triangle and forming a triangle when they are brought together as one.

"The oldest legends, which have been most consistent over the generations, state that whenever a person of a balanced heart touches the Triforce in its whole form, then that person will be granted any wish they desire. But when an unworthy person touches it, it may grant a wish, but it will split into its three components. And if an evil person such as Ganon ever manages to get and hold onto the whole of the Triforce, then the world shall be corrupted and turned to evil.

"It has been long ago, but Ganon once sought out the Triforce and managed to hold on to it for a short time. That is why our lands are so twisted and dangerous these days, with dark monsters roaming everywhere. But then the Triforce split itself into many pieces, scattering itself all over the lands of Hyrule, leaving him with only a sliver from the Triforce of Power.

"Ganon was enraged by this and swore that one way or another, he would overthrow the goddesses and make himself into the ultimate god. He has been seeking out the fragments ever since, but they continually elude him. Sometimes another manages to gather a piece or two. Gannon will kill such persons and the fragments scatter once more. If he knew that one of the Triforce pieces was here, then he would not hesitate to destroy our village entirely in order to reclaim the piece."

People murmured at the end of the story, talking amongst themselves quietly. Clasping his hand over the Triforce of Courage, Link bowed his head. He didn't want to bring ruin to his village. He hadn't even known what it was. It had just come to him. It wanted him to repair it.

"But, the fact is that this piece of the Triforce seems to have sought you out specifically," the elder said. "You defied the King of Beasts in order to protect your mother and the goddesses honor people of heroic qualities. You could deny the piece and let it go back into hiding. Or, you could accept it. I am not sure what this portends. Perhaps you are meant to be a hero. Perhaps the goddesses, at least Farore, believe that you can gather the entire Triforce and be worthy of its power. What will you do with it?"

Link considered it, then pointed out towards the end of the road.

"You're going to leave Waterfront?" his father asked, shocked, maybe scared for him.

Not sure of how to relate it, he made several signs. Maybe they would figure it out.

The elder did. "You do not wish to put the rest of us in danger, so you will leave so that Ganon's vengeance will not fall upon us?"

He nodded. Then, he put his hand over the Triforce piece and shrugged. He didn't know what he would do after that. But he would do something.

"Link, must you leave?" his mother asked, coming up to him.

Unfortunately. He hugged her, patting her back. While he would miss his family and neighbors, it seems that he had been called to another path.

"I see," the elder said, bowing his head in deep respect. "It is good that you will do so for our safety. But it is dark; you could wait until morning."

Link shook his head. That wouldn't do. Ganon had many spies in the land. Even a delay until morning could end up with the village in devastation. And it had already been several hours since he picked up the first piece.

"Still, it is dangerous to go alone." He turned to the villagers. "We can spare some items to send with you."

Several people agreed, so Link nodded and waited on them by the fire pit. While they were waiting, the leader got together a torch and lit the end on fire, so that he had some protection on his first night. The first person to come back was the woman he had given his broken shield to. "Here, I managed to get it fixed. While it's fitting for the sea, it is a bit small for battles on land. The oil coating should be distasteful to any Likelikes, but still, be careful."

Then one of the other elders of the village came up to him with a wooden sword. This one had sharp edges. "Take this," he said. "It is one of the best crafted weapons we can have with the King's restrictions on weaponry. I'm sorry we cannot give you anything stronger."

He smiled and thanked him with a bow. It was better than nothing.

Next, his parents came up, and gave him a money pouch, his depth bag, a fishing pole, and a beaded bracelet. "We couldn't afford to give you many rupees, but perhaps these tools will all be useful," his mother said. "And, as you can't tell others your name, I've had this made up for you, in case you had to travel."

He looked at the bracelet before putting it on. It had the name Ganon had given him spelled out on white beads. Smiling, he hugged them again, as well as his younger siblings. This was for their safety.

Finally, the woman with the baby came up to him. "I really do not have a lot, but please, take this as well," she said, handing him a glass bottle that had milk inside. It had a cork stopping the top. "It may not seem important, but bottles are very useful and can hold many things. It will even keep milk fresh and good for longer than most containers."

He bowed to her in thanks. As that seemed to be all the gifts, he patted his heart and bowed to all of the villagers of Waterfront. Then he left to silence. They waved him goodbye, but did not dare to call out and alert the spies of Ganon.


	2. Petrified Oak Dungeon

His parents had placed a good supply of dried foods within his depth pouch, so when Link woke up the next morning, he was able to gather some nearby fruits, drink the bottled milk, and eat some jerky. Finding three stones, he placed them into a triangular shape, then prayed to the goddesses for guidance. He was not sure what to do, but he would have to find some way to survive. And the surest way to do that was to gather more tools. There were two ways he could do that. He could defeat monsters to gather rupees to buy them, or he could plunge into one of the myriad dungeons that dotted the land to find them in Miniblin chests.

It wasn't long before giant Tektite spiders decided to attack his campsite. Link drew his wooden sword and slashed one of them, then kicked it into the smoldering fire. Scrambling to his feet, he brought his shield up to deflect the jumping attack of another, then smashed it with the flat of his blade. A third went down quickly, but the fourth clicked and left the scene. To report to its boss, whether the King of Beasts or someone under him? Whoever it was going to, Link was now out in the open, and the monsters must have seen the Triforce of Courage around his neck.

After gathering the rupees that the spiders had, he tossed dirt onto his fire to put it out, then started walking. He had no direction in mind, so he went north. Supposedly, Ganon's castle was far to the north of Waterfront somewhere. He held no illusions that he could take on the King of Beasts now. But there would be other villages somewhere.

In mid-morning, he came across a rock outcropping that bore a large sign. 'Shoppe of Goodes and Thinges,' it said, in crooked painted letters. Link had heard of such shops that lay outside of towns. One of Ganon's many laws stated that no town could have a shop within its borders unless it was an approved traveling Moblin merchant. And the Moblin merchants were terrible at pricing things, making some goods far too expensive and others so cheap one had to wonder if the Moblins knew what the goods even were.

Link stepped into the shop, looking to see what tools it would have and what prices were like out here. Magic red flames were kept in large pots to light the inside of the cave, as well as keep the shop warm and safe from monsters. Two children were playing a board game on a barrel, while their parents sat by a safe against the back wall talking. Noticing him come in, the man got up. "Hello stranger, and welcome to our shop. May we help you with any..?" he stopped, staring at the Triforce.

"Dear?" his wife said, getting up.

"Is that a piece of the legendary Triforce?" he asked, stepping back.

Link nodded.

That caused a noticeable chilling in the spirit of the place. "I, I'm sorry, sir, but we can't board you here. It's, well,"

Smiling, he bowed his head to them. He understood. He looked towards the arrangement of goods, then back at the man.

"Oh, well if you're here to buy things, we can help you there," he said, seemingly relieved. "What do you need?"

Link placed his hand on his throat, trying to indicate his lack of speech, then went over to the shelves. There were barrels of food supplies, so this would be a good place to remember to stock up at. And the prices on those looked fair. There were pieces of jewelry, but nothing that would really be of help. Over on one side, there were arrows, but no bows. And then there was a candle. What sort of candle was it? He picked it up and looked at the runes.

The shopkeeper, who had looked nervous at his silent customer, relaxed at having something to talk about. "That's a very handy item, a blue candle. It has this switch there on the base, right there, that will cause a flame to appear when you flip it."

Link followed the instructions and got a small blue flame. It didn't seem warm, but it cast out good light.

"However, it does go out after a minute," the shop keeper stated. "And it will take a few minutes to recharge before it can be lit again. But it can start a camp fire for you easier than using a flint and stone. It's 80 rupees, if you're interested."

He wasn't sure what a fair price on this would be, but having a fire starter around would be handy. He nodded. Not seeing anything else immediately useful, he followed the man back to the table where everything was exchanged and recorded.

The woman came up to them and asked, "Excuse me, sir, but do you have a map of the area?"

He shook his head. He'd never left Waterfront over land, just over the water. And never for longer than a day.

"We do have maps available, for five rupees," she said. "Would you care to see one?"

He nodded, then she brought one out of a nearby barrel. Link unrolled it and looked it over. It showed Waterfront in the very south central area of southern Hyrule, then the forest he had walked through this morning. Up north, there was a large lake, then a waterfall and a vast range of mountains further north. To the east, there was a wooded plain, a small desert, and another ocean shore. To the west, there was a dense forest, a graveyard, and more mountains.

The woman pointed out a marking. "This sign marks a shop that is affiliated with the merchant's guild, which we belong to. This would be our shop. And these signs," she moved her finger to a pair of markings on islands in the lake, "are known dungeons. There are unmarked shops and dungeons, of course, because few map makers are brave enough to fully explore all of southern Hyrule."

That was good. He indicated that he would like to buy the map too, then brought out his money bag for 85 rupees. That spent much of what he had, but now that he knew where dungeons were, he could get some money and tools by exploring them. He thanked them silently, then left the shop.

"Why didn't that strange man say anything?" he heard one of the kids ask as he did so. Link smiled a bit, then headed on out.

A short distance later, he checked the map. The closest marked dungeons were one to the west, and the two in the lake. While one of the lake ones seemed inaccessible, the other one had a bridge out to it. The one in the forest to the west seemed to be about the same distance away, with just a more winding path to get there. On thinking it over, he decided to check out the one across the bridge first. Link headed north to the lake.

* * *

 

Monsters were truly everywhere, and a great many of them sought to attack Link when they noticed the Triforce piece. He could tell because they simply watched him at first. Then, a look of recognition would enter their eyes and they would become enraged. Invariably, he would have to go on the defensive and fight.

And it was while he was fighting an Octorok that something curious happened. When he defeated it, a red bubble seemed to come from its body. But this bubble was not round; it was like a plump heart symbol. The Triforce would flicker, then the heart would vanish. When this happened, any wounds that he had taken would start to heal and he would feel more energized. Was this a part of Farore's blessing?

Then he heard a woman's scream.

Concerned, Link ran ahead. He saw a black Lynel charging at a fallen woman. It reminded him of the beast that Ganon had ridden, that fateful day he had come into Waterfront. Link took his sword and threw it at the mad beast, more to get its attention than to attack it. That worked, as it stumbled to a stop, looked at him, then roared in a fury and threw its magic blades at him. Link rolled under them, ran past the Lynel with his shield up, ducked down to grab his sword, then cut at the beast's knees. It slashed at his head, but ended up grazing his shoulder in a painful wound. Thinking, he pulled out the snake rope and launched the head at the Lynel's face. The fangs bit down on the beast's nose.

The snake rope itself seemed to inflict no damage. But it made the Lynel panic, jerking away and thrashing hard enough that the centaur beast's knees cracked and it fell to the ground. It then made a movement of crossing its arms over its chest.

Link recognized that move; it indicated that the Lynel was desperate and about to launch a barrage of its bone blades in all directions. Letting go of the snake rope for the moment, he grabbed the beast's hand, then decapitated the Lynel with its own blade. Unfortunately, the blades vanished as soon as the Lynel died. They could have been quite useful to Link.

But that wasn't important. He turned to the woman, who apparently had tripped over a tree root while running. She was a muscular woman, but looked exhausted, with dark circles around her eyes, her bare feet raw from being on the run, her green dress ripped, muddy, and stained with sweat and blood. Ignoring his own injured shoulder, he went over to her side and knelt by her, touching her forehead.

"Oh, th-thank you, young man," she said, panting. She struggled to sit upright, then pulled something out of a bag. It was a bottle that had something glowing inside. "I was almost too late to even use this little one." She then opened it.

A bright pink aura shot out of the bottle, revealing a tiny winged person wearing a dress that seemed to be made of cobwebs. The fairy giggled, then caused a burst of pink light to envelope both Link and the woman. Somehow, the fairy's magic repaired Link's shoulder to where not a sign of the sword swipe was left, and got rid of his bruises from the spider fight. And it healed up the woman almost completely, soothing her sore feet and fixing up all the cuts she had. The fairy then vanished.

The woman got up and checked her feet. "That was a close call. My name is Impa. Who are you…? Wait, that…" she had looked to him and finally saw the golden Triforce piece around his neck.

He tapped his throat, then held up the bracelet his mother had given him.

Impa looked at it, puzzled. "Link? That doesn't seem like a proper name."

He shrugged. If the King of Beasts renamed you, there was nothing you could do to change it back. Then he bowed.

"I suppose it doesn't matter. And this is part of the Triforce."

Link touched it, trying to figure out how to sign what it was. He eventually pointed out is green tunic. Green was Farore's favored color.

"The Triforce of Courage?"

He nodded.

Impa smiled. "I see. Exactly as she said. Link, I've been looking for you. I'm the handmaiden and nurse to Princess Zelda, of northern Hyrule. The ruler of southern Hyrule, Ganon, had decided to kidnap her and marry her so that he rules over the whole of Hyrule. Or eat her; it's hard to tell at times. He's holding her captive in his hidden palace in the Death Mountain area." She paused. "Have you heard of this?"

He shook his head, then pointed in the direction of Waterfront. It was a town on the southern coast of Hyrule, and they rarely got news of other places.

"I see. You're from the south, then? I'm sorry, am I talking too much?" She seemed self-conscious.

He shrugged, as he didn't really care. Then he tapped his throat again and much a cutting motions across it. He finished off by indicating the Lynel with a raising hand. Would that work? His father would have known.

She tried to puzzle him out. "You can't speak… because of that beast? No, because of Ganon? You've been cursed by Ganon?"

He nodded, then tapped the name bracelet.

"And that's how you have that odd name. Okay, I understand now. That's harsh, though. No one will want to be associated with you as you wear the Triforce around your neck and it is hard for you to explain without words. Are you trying to get revenge on Ganon?"

Link shrugged, then looked down. He clasped the Triforce of Courage.

"The goddesses have recognized your courage, but Ganon still holds onto a fragment of the Triforce of Power. Even just that piece makes him more powerful than anyone else in the land." Impa paused. "Well, Zelda had managed to find a piece of the Triforce of Wisdom last year."

He looked back to her. So it wasn't just him?

"But that's partly why the Prince of Darkness has kidnapped her," Impa added. "He's been trying to reclaim the whole Triforce for himself and turn the entire land of Hyrule into a dark and twisted place, much worse than southern Hyrule is now. But the goddesses refuse to acknowledge him, and keep working against him. He is just that powerful, that even they have not managed to stop him. But, Zelda managed to keep the piece of Wisdom safe, in a way. She asked for the goddess Nayru to take the piece to safety. Angered, he locked us both up.

"After many months, Zelda told me that she had received a vision that somewhere in the southern part of Hyrule, someone would be granted pieces of the Triforce of Courage. But, you were lost, without any guidance or goal. Courage can be a strong force, but it is little without the wisdom to make the right use of it and the power to make it stick. Zelda believes that the best thing to do now is to have one person gather the whole Triforce and use the wish they are granted to restore peace and prosperity. But you will be fighting against all of Ganon's forces if you choose to do so. And, you will eventually have to fight the Prince of Darkness himself, as he holds onto that one fragment of Power. If you manage to prove yourself to all three goddesses by gathering pieces, you may be able to defeat him."

A deep part of Link's soul insisted that that was the right thing to do, and it must be done. The land had suffered for far too long under the King of Beast's rule, and someone had to do something to stop it. And if that someone was him… but he didn't want his village to be destroyed in retaliation, and like Impa said, very few people would want to help him now. And even those like Impa here would not want to hang around him for long.

"I wanted to escape with Zelda," Impa said. "But we couldn't. I only got away because Ganon decided that I was unneeded and threw me to his Lynels to be devoured. But being the princess' hand maiden, I was able to defeat several of them and get away. His dungeon was long and my trek since then even longer… I'm sorry, I can't really tell you where the palace is. I'm not used to southern Hyrule and I'm certain that I was running in circles for a while there…" her eyes were starting to get watery.

Link smiled and patted her shoulder. She was a pretty amazing woman, he thought, if she had defeated several Lynels while unarmed and escaped others for so long. But even the best of warriors would be run down after trekking across this dangerous countryside for days, pursued constantly by monsters.

"Thank you," Impa said softly, wiping her tears away. "So Link, will you do this? Will you gather the rest of the Triforce and rescue my ward Zelda? I'm afraid I can't do much, but maybe if I have some time to think, I could remember…"

Tightening his hold on her shoulder to get her attention, Link nodded. It was a daunting task. But then, it was much better than roaming the monster filled countryside without any real purpose.

"Good. I'm not sure where to tell you to begin. Once you find a piece, it should be easier to find the fragments that go with the piece you hold. Zelda mentioned that they might have gone into the dungeons of the land. And I'd like to find a town to stay in, if they would take me in. I wouldn't tell them about who I really am or about the Triforce, though. I doubt that Ganon would find me important enough to punish others about."

And he'd been planning to check those dungeons out anyhow, for survival tools. Link brought out his map, then let Impa hold onto one side (she'd been puzzled for a bit about what he meant to do until she saw that it was a map). He pointed out where they were, not too far from the large Lake Hylia, but not that far from the shop he had been in this morning. He tried to indicate that while it wasn't a town, she should be able to get help there.

"It doesn't look like there's many villages about," she said. "But, that's a place to start? Okay then. I'll be there and if I have to move, I hope to find some way to let you know. I'm not sure, though. Well, good luck, Link. Take care of yourself."

He nodded, then bowed to her. They waved goodbye, then went their separate ways. Link soon found Lake Hylia and followed its shoreline to the bridge. While looking over the shimmering blue surface, he felt a twinge of homesickness. The lake wasn't the ocean, but it was enough to remind him of it.

* * *

 

Link defeated another Octorok that was guarding the bridge, then crossed over the wooden planks. Parts of the bridge seemed old, like the planks that creaked when he stepped on them. And parts seemed new, like the whole planks that did not even look waterlogged. Someone was keeping this bridge in repair. Was it for the dungeon? Perhaps there would not be much for treasure down here, if people often came this way.

On the other side of the bridge was a small island. It was a spooky place. The only plants growing here were twisted and black, things that should have been dead long ago but were somehow forced to live torturous lives. It made Link shudder to see them. Was this place cursed, like him? The gateway to the dungeon certainly seemed that way, with the petrified remains of a large tree decorated with bones around a dark opening. A tight and narrow set of stairs went in a coil down from there. Link touched the Triforce of Courage, then went down the stairway. He had only heard about the dungeons before, so hopefully he could survive one.

After many coils of the staircase, he came upon an entry room that was made of large gray stone blocks. A light surrounded the room, but seemed to come from no visible source. That had been what Farore's blessing was stated to do. Looking at the place, Link walked between the rows of grotesque gargoyles. This room was empty otherwise and only had two exits, the one he had come in through and one that lay at the other end. He went through that door.

The next room was much the same, but without stone gargoyles and with boney Stalfos walking about. The skeleton warriors sought to attack him with bone swords, but he was able to defeat them with his wooden one. He kept exploring, fighting Keese, more Stalfos, and some weak Moblins.

And yet, all that he found was a single key. He almost missed it, as had been laying in a pile of rubble near a locked door. Link had spotted a glint of metal among the gray rocks, so had decided to dig it out. What he found was a white key that had the head of a lion carved into the end. The key head itself was odd, a thicker cylinder with a slot. It didn't seem like it should open anything, but he put it into the keyhole, just in case. The key glowed briefly, causing a click to sound. He turned the key and heard the lock click again as it was undone. Perhaps it was some kind of magic skeleton key. That would be immensely useful, so he decided to keep it. No one else was around to argue.

Behind that one locked door, he came to a grand room that seemed like it should have held something. There was a circular arrangement of stone blocks around a stone altar that was directly under a hole that let sunlight inside. But when Link managed to get to the top of the altar, nothing was there.

At first. Then something flickered, and the image of a young woman appeared. She wore an elegant violet dress, like one might expect of royalty, and her chestnut brown hair was long and curled. Clasping her hands to her chest, she looked to him and asked, "Are you the one chosen by the goddesses?"

What kind of question was that? Link shrugged, but then put his hand to the piece of the Triforce. At least Farore had given him her blessing. Maybe he was chosen by her.

The girl smiled. "You have three pieces, so you could be. Tell me, what is your name?"

He patted his throat, then held his wrist out.

"Oh… you are cursed to silence." She looked at his wrist, touching it. But he felt nothing more than a mist. "Link. That is your name?"

He nodded.

She put her hand to her chin. "Strange. But, it must not matter. My name is Zelda. Ganon has held me captive for a long time, but I am overwhelmed by the sadness that pervades our land of Hyrule. Hero, if you will help me, I may be able to guide you to the places where the other fragments of the Triforce lay. You are not yet ready to fight Ganon, or to reach the place I am held captive. But, in time, perhaps you can. Will you work with me?"

Recalling that Ganon was a master magician, Link wasn't sure if this girl was the one Impa mentioned and if he could trust her. But, the uncertainty only held for a moment. Her eyes seemed sincere. So he nodded.

"Thank you," she replied, and curtsied. "I must be careful about our contacts, but any time you find a space like this, you can contact me. Just speak… well, that won't work, will it? Perhaps if you think of my name, or ask the goddesses."

He nodded slowly and patted his chest. He would try.

"All right." She closed her eyes. "I sense a piece of Wisdom to the east of where you are. You will want bombs when you go there. Do you have a map?" She opened her eyes again.

Link brought out the map he had bought and uncurled it.

Zelda looked at it, then pointed to a place in the wooded plains. "Let me make a mark on your map. And, there. There is a dungeon at this location, and the fragment is located at the end of it."

Checking the new mark, Link nodded, then bowed to her.

"I can also take you out of the dungeon you are in, but then we must cut off our contact. Link, please be careful. I will be praying for you. Now, close your eyes."

He did so and felt a strange shifting of his body. When it settled down again, he opened his eyes back up. He was back on the island with the living dead plants. Link left the island, for it still gave him a foreboding feeling. After clearing a meadow of some monsters, he set up a campsite, then caught a fish from the lake and had it for his supper.


	3. Learning the Ropes

Link woke up to a red Moblin crashing his campsite. He rapidly got out his wooden sword and rolled away before the Moblin jumped him. He slashed at the beast, the sharp edge of the blade just making up for the poor choice of material it was. Not that he could really do anything about that. Only the King and his minions could make proper weapons.

The Moblin screamed and threw what appeared to be a curved stick at him. Link got out of its path and slashed the beast again. This hit was more critical, causing the beast to gurgle and attempt to punch him. He got out of the way of that, but then got struck in the back by that stick. Grimacing, he slashed at the Moblin again, killing it. One of those hearts appeared and vanished, making his back feel better.

He turned and saw the weapon that had hurt him. Now that he had a good look at it, he could tell that it was a boomerang, of tan wood with brown stripes. It was surprising that it could hurt him on its return path. Link picked it up, wondering how to use it. He had noticed the Moblins simply threw them, but hadn't paid much attention beyond that. As a test, he threw it, holding it horizontally. The boomerang flew nice and straight for a short distance, lifted up a bit, then dropped to the ground.

Link shrugged, then took care of his campfire and packed his things. Once that was taken care of, he went over and picked up the boomerang again. This time, he threw it vertical to the ground. It went forward, then promptly dived for the ground. This weapon was not as easy to use as the moblins made it look like.

He ran after it again, then decided to head south. The next Triforce piece was supposed to be in the eastern forest, southeast of the desert area. And in forests, there were usually Moblins, among other monsters. If he was careful, he should see one or two using boomerangs, so he could figure his new weapon out.

The area was fairly open, so Link was careful and slow with his progress. There were all sorts of monsters about, but what he mostly saw were spear wielding beastmen. No boomerang users. Checking his map frequently, he made his way towards the next dungeon. He encountered some large Darknuts, canine beast men who wore a full suit of body armor and charged with swords. They had full metal swords, though, not wooden ones like his. But those weapons had enchantments on them that, when the user was defeated, the weapon vanished, presumably returning to Ganon's armory.

But he ended up finding the next dungeon before he found another boomerang wielder. It was in a dense part of the forest, with the entrance covered in vines. Several ominous looking statues were nearby. At least, they'd be ominous if they weren't weathered by time and the elements, and taken over by the thick vines. The location matched Zelda's mark, so he cut the vines away. However, some strong magic infused the plants and they grew right back. Link ended up shoving them aside so that he could enter the dungeon.

This dungeon was very earthy in tone, with yellow red dirt packed onto the floors, walls, ceilings, and obstacles. There were large black pits everywhere; he dropped a pebble in one and didn't hear it make any sound in landing. However, there had been a growl that made him wary of straying too near the holes.

He heard noises ahead, like there was a fight. Link hurried through the door, but stopped when he heard a blast from an explosion. He then took a wary step into the next room.

Immediately, a snake that was much like his snake rope noticed him. It rushed at him with surprising speed. He sidestepped and slashed at it, putting a nasty cut into its body. With another slash, he managed to cut through the creature's backbone, killing it. Then he looked to see if there were more enemies.

But there weren't. There were lots of dead Rope snakes, though, mostly around one man. He wore an orange helmet that had large red goggles over his eyes, as well as orange leather armor. He carried a large pack, apparently not having access to something like a depth bag. Link wondered if he was one of the dungeon explorers.

The goggled man came over to him. "What ho, you new to me. You novice dungeon spelunker now?" He looked over Link from several angles.

Finding this man odd but probably harmless, Link nodded.

"Oh, you very new. Strong silent type, huh? Look at you; you not even have dark see goggles! How you expect to navigate tunnels, then? You only see small area around you."

Link felt puzzled, as he saw the dungeon quite clearly. Then he recalled that it had been part of the blessing of Farore, to be able to see in dungeons. Because of that, the dungeons would look much different to this man.

"And yet, you find way into my dungeon. My secret dungeon! No one else knows but me, well, you now. We. That's wisdom, boy, never enter map labeled dungeon! You find nothing, trash. Maybe a few rupee. To be master, like Dupree, you need find unlabeled dungeon. Yes. Dupree likes you. Want to be apprentice to Dupree?"

Link nodded again. It would be nice to have some lessons from a professional dungeon explorer, even a weird one like Dupree here. Even though his first dungeon had been easy, that had also been a map labeled dungeon.

"Excellent! I will even grant you gift." He pulled out a brown sack from the side of his large pack, then fiddled to put some black items in it. "Ta-duh-dah! Here, have some bombs! This bomb sack, very special. Made from Dodongo hide, it holds bombs safe. And bombs very useful. Kill lots of enemies, boom! Like them." He indicated the mass of Rope snakes. "Especially useful here, too, for Dodongo dislikes smoke. That very important, so keep in brain."

Link tried to follow him, but his way of speaking was strange. He nodded anyhow, just to keep Dupree going.

"Okay now, important lesson! See that door over there? Locked! And it take forever to find where monsters hid key."

Link thought of the magic skeleton key he had in his pocket, but decided to let the explorer ramble. He followed when Dupree started to head for a blank rock wall.

"And dungeons, they treacherous. They move when you not looking! Never same way twice I travel in some. But this one, and others, there is trick with bomb. Here, hit wall with something. Not hand, though."

He shrugged, then took his sword and hit the wall that had the door in it. It made a dull thumping sound.

"That sound, it says that wall is thick. Now, hit this wall."

When he did that, there was a different sound, an odd sharp thwak.

Dupree frowned. "What, you have wood sword?"

He nodded.

"Hmph. I suppose that easy weapon to get. But hear that? That sound, it says that wall is thin. Sometimes, you even see cracks. Now take bomb, light fuse, place at wall, and get away!" He started scuttling to a pillar.

Link pulled a bomb out of the bomb sack, then brought out his blue candle. Using that to light the fuse, he placed it by the thin wall, then hurried back to where Dupree was. A moment later, there was a loud blast again, sending smoke and debris into the air. There was now a hole in the wall, leading to another room.

"And there you are," Dupree said, nodding. "But monsters fill bomb holes, so move fast." He turned to Link to say something more, but then stopped with his mouth still opened. He then touched the Triforce piece. "That… that is a golden Triforce?"

Link nodded. He didn't know how good the dark seeing goggles were, but maybe they weren't enough to see details from a distance. Or color.

Dupree immediately looked nervous. "Well, um, then… you fight Ganon?"

He nodded again.

"Erm…. Look, I sorry, but if that so, you cannot be Dupree's apprentice. I find dungeons, not fight the great and terrible king, yes? But keep bombs; I hope they help." He got up and started for the exit. But then he stopped again. "Er, then, do you have metal weapon?"

He shook his head.

Dupree put his hand to his chest. "No good. Can't fight Ganon with wood sword. But… go see old man at waterfall. Top of waterfall, mind you. There is another, he cheat. Go see old man at top of waterfall. He crazy, but he would help. Luck be with you, hero." Dupree then left the room, headed for the dungeon exit.

That was a very short apprenticeship, Link thought. It stung a bit as he thought of how everyone was treating him different just because he had this golden treasure around his neck. But if he could defeat Ganon and get the whole Triforce, things would be different. And Dupree had helped him, as he wouldn't have thought to hit walls and see if they could be blown up. Link went through the hole in the wall, ignoring the locked door.

And through there, he found at last a boomerang wielding Moblin. It did not immediately see him, as it was busy amusing itself by killing Keese with its weapon. Link watched at how exactly the Moblin used the weapon. It held its tan boomerang at an angle, then threw it in such a way as to get it to spin. The boomerang hit the Keese, then returned, allowing the Moblin to catch it by clapping it between his hands. It checked the weapon, then made sure to adjust the way it was held.

Link put back the bomb bag to bring out his own boomerang. Looking at it, he saw that it was not perfectly flat. It had curves, a short one, then a long one. And the two blades of the thing weren't set up the same. One had the short curve on the outside edge, while the other had the short curve on the inside edge. What was the right way to throw it? He held it so that the long curve was leading on the top blade of the boomerang. Then he threw it at the Moblin, making sure to spin it.

And it hit the Moblin, but without great force and dropping on the ground promptly. The Moblin saw him in the hole, got mad, and threw its own boomerang, but in the proper manner. Link rushed out, getting out of the boomerang's way, then fighting the beast with his sword.

When he defeated it, he heard a roar of anger. Another Moblin then barreled through another thin wall nearby, coming to the death cry of its comrade. This one was wielding a blue boomerang, and when it threw that weapon, it flew much further, going right through several Keese on its flight path.

Link rolled out of the way, grabbed the tan boomerang with the short edge leading, then threw it like the Moblins were. Finally, his throw worked. It hit the Moblin strongly, then returned back to him. He didn't catch it quite right and it stung his hand. But he was getting the hang of it.

He threw his again, while the Moblin also threw its blue boomerang. Thinking, Link got out of the way of its first fly by, but then clapped it out of the air on its return. Howling now, the Moblin took the tan boomerang and tried to hit him with it. But Link took his sword and attacked close range, defeating that one too.

And, to his surprise, it was the tan boomerang that vanished. He still had the blue one in hand. The shape was a little different, but he could still tell it had the short curve and the long curve. He went into the room the Moblin had gone through, but soon had to leap out of the path of a pair of spiked machines that were racing towards him.

When he recovered from that, he looked around to see a trio of Keese in the room. Making sure he held the boomerang properly, Link threw it at them, even though they were in the distant corner. It had a strange flight path, though: it struck the first one, then changed directions to hit the second, then swerved away to hit the third, and finally returned to him. And it slowed when it got close, letting him take it with one hand and not get stung. Thanking the goddesses for the unexpected gift of the magical boomerang, plus the bombs, he went through a doorway that had just opened and continued on.

Through several more rooms, he came to another locked door. But this one was different. It had a metal plate on the center that said 'Dodongo'. Wasn't that the creature Dupree mentioned? Link brought out his skeleton key and unlocked the door.

A strange grunt answered his entrance. Link shut the door behind him and looked to see an orange beast; its bulky body had a rock-like hide, long sharp tusks, and a thick tail. It was shorter than him, but not by much, and it was clearly much heavier. The Dodongo tensed, then rushed at him with surprising speed for such a large creature.

Getting out of the way, Link struck it with his wooden sword. That did absolutely nothing to the tough skin of the creature. When he threw the magical boomerang, it caused sparks to fly, but no damage. Then he recalled that this creature disliked smoke, whatever that meant.

He took out his candle and a bomb. The candle made no smoke, but the bomb would. He lit the bomb, then threw it at the Dodongo, which was turning around. The creature spotted the bomb, and decided to eat it.

Uneasy for a moment, Link wondered how he should deal with the thing. But then, a dull thud came from inside the Dodongo. It wailed, then collapsed onto the floor. From its panting, it was just stunned from the bomb exploding inside its stomach. He felt a sense of wonder that it hadn't killed the beast. Then, he figured that he should leave the room before it roused itself. He took his magic key and used it on the door he had not come in through.

In here, there was an altar room, much like the one in the other dungeon. Link walked around the curve of the pillars and up the altar. On the very top, there was a golden fragment, the same size as the pieces of the Triforce of Courage. He picked up the piece to the Triforce of Wisdom.

It glowed in his hand. However, it did not have lines like the other pieces had shown, leading to the other pieces. Instead, this one had little nubs. Perhaps the other pieces were too far. He clasped it in his hand, then thought about Zelda.

Her image soon appeared. "Did you find the piece of Wisdom?"

He nodded and held it out to her.

The princess smiled. "Wonderful. Okay, let me see…" she placed her hand above the piece, then closed her eyes. "You were given a piece of advice today which you should follow. The next piece is to the south, near the Lost Woods, and it will be tougher to reach." She then brought her hands to her chest and looked around nervously. "I can't speak long now. Good luck, Link." Her image vanished, as did the dungeon around him.

Quickly, he shut his eyes. The disorientation was much worse when he was looking at the change of scenery. When he felt things settle down and heard birds singing in the rustling trees, he opened his eyes again. Back outside, in the wilds of southern Hyrule.

Advice… to go find the man at the top of the waterfall? But he should probably go check on Impa too. If he hurried, he might make it back to the shop in time for a short visit. Link took off running through the wooded plains.

* * *

 

Back at the Shoppe of Goodes and Thinges, Link checked on his supplies. The foods his parents had given him were running low. But he had plenty of rupees now to correct that issue. He descended into the cave shop.

The two kids were running about, playing pretend fights while their mother cleaned the shelves. The man was talking with Impa near the back of the shop. He looked up, then bit his lip. "Oh, it's you again."

Impa looked down. "It's, it's the young man who saved me. Hello, Link."

He waved to them with a smile, then indicated that he was here to buy things. The shop keeper wasn't going to turn him down for that, but he did go to the stairway to watch for trouble. Link went to a shelf near Impa, then made a sign of a Z.

She looked alert to that. "Have you spoken to Zelda?" she asked softly.

He nodded, tapped the Triforce of Courage, then patted his bag. He wasn't going to bring the fragment out here.

After thinking on it, the hand maiden broke into a wide grin, then bowed her head in thanks. Link smiled back, then went to pick out food items. He noticed that they sold bombs, so he figured out how many he could carry and stocked up. He gave his payment to the wife, then left quickly.

* * *

 

He had camped near Lake Hylia one night, then walked around it, entering the mountainous region of Hyrule, then camped again near the river. Zolas pestered him throughout the evening. After several were conked on the head with the magical boomerang, the water creatures ducked back under the surface and kept to themselves. Link slept lightly that night, being constantly stirred by the sounds of rocks tumbling. None hit his campsite, although some came close.

After taking care of his campsite, Link got moving early in the morning to reach the waterfall. It was a tall but narrow cascade into a deep pool, which fed into the quickly moving river that went west. He spotted an old man at the base of the waterfall, smoking a pipe and watching a Tektite in the distance. But the man waved at him, inviting him over. "Hello, young fellow. Need some advice? Come back into my home with me. I'll give you some nice information in exchange for a few rupees."

This man was probably the cheat that Dupree had warned him about. Link shook his head, then moved on. There was a staircase carved into the cliff which zigzagged its way to the top.

"Your loss, sonny," the man said, then put his pipe out and went into a cave behind the waterfall.

Link climbed up the steep staircase, careful as he got up higher into the cliff face. There was nothing to prevent him from falling off onto the rocky ground below. But from up here, he had an impressive view over the lush green wilderness to the south.

He climbed the final stairs and nearly was startled into jumping back to his doom when a harsh shrill cry filled the air. It was one of the Zola, alerting a blue Lynel. The lion headed centaur turned, saw Link with the Triforce, then screamed in rage and rushed at him.

Despite his heart pounding in his chest, Link thought up a plan. Dodging the fireball the Zola sent at him, he ran alongside the cliff edge, waiting on the Lynel. It continued rushing. Link then dropped and rolled forward, to the left a little bit. Unable to stop itself, the Lynel went careening off the edge of the cliff, now screaming in fear and rage.

That angered the Zola, who dove, then leapt out of its pond to face him. It was a strange mer-creature, able to stand on land like a human, but very distinctly fish like. Link brought out his magic boomerang to stun it, then slashed at it with his wooden sword. It was a tough fight, but he prevailed.

"Well done, boy," he heard. "Well done indeed,"

He turned and saw a creature who was almost like the Zola. He was more humanlike, though, with blue scales, long curling whiskers and beard, and differently shaped fins. Not sure of what he was, Link kept his sword out and faced him.

"Don't worry," the old man said, walking up to him. "I am a Zora, not a Zola. I happened to see all of your fight with the Lynel and the Zola. It is impressive to meet one so young that knows you must fight with brains as much as brawn. Tell me, what is your name?"

Link made his usual gestures, then showed his name bracelet.

"Oh, so that's the nature of the cursed aura I see about you." He looked at the bracelet. "Link. And you bear the Triforce of Courage. I've been hoping to meet someone like you before my end came. Please, let me help you." He bowed. "I am Josiah, master swordsman of Lake Hylia."

Take aback by this change of pace, Link stepped back and placed his hand over the Triforce. He then tried to indicate that he worried about Josiah's safety if he helped.

But the old Zora shook his head. "Please, do not concern yourself with my safety. If Ganon knew of my whereabouts, I'm sure that he would come to me himself to kill me. I have been working against him for my entire life. However, most people are terrified of Ganon's power, and rightfully so. And yet… I do not deserve to touch the Triforce myself. I don't care about that anymore, though. I just want to see the end of this accursed darkness. So, will you accept my assistance? I can give you a better sword, and teach you to handle it more effectively."

That relieved him some, to know that Josiah was wanted anyhow and would not suffer anymore if he helped. So Link nodded, agreeing to shake hands with the Zora.

"Good, we can start today. Keep the wooden sword for now, as it will be useful to learn with."

* * *

 

Josiah was a tough master, like some of the older fisherman that Link had learned from in the past few years. He drilled Link repeatedly on his sword moves, especially the new ones he taught. Initially, there was some difficulty in the two of them working together, and not just in Link's silence. Link had always fought with his sword in his left hand, while Josiah was right-handed. But they worked out the differences between them.

They worked together for a good month, starting at the crack of dawn and often working after dark. Link wasn't sure how much he was progressing, but the Zora told him not to worry about that and focus on getting better. Some days, they went into the Lost Hills and fought monsters there. Josiah said that there was a dungeon somewhere around the area, but he wasn't certain of how to get there. Apparently, he had only stumbled upon it a few times.

One evening, they shared a meal while looking over the landscape of Hyrule below them. The sky was yellow and orange in sunset, causing the small spring lake and the waterfall to glow in similar colors. "There used to be many Zoras here, and in Lake Hylia," Josiah said out of the blue.

Link looked to him, showing that he was listening.

The old Zora ran his fingers though his curling beard. "That was before Ganon came, though. When he held the whole Triforce, I had been away from the lake. When I returned, all of my kin seemed to be missing, replaced by those monsters. They're mindless yet cruel, those Zolas. They like to knock people off bridges and shorelines with their fireballs, then kill and devour them in the water. Sometimes I wonder if they're not Zoras driven mad. We shouldn't be like that. If it is true, then only a few of us stayed sane. And barely that, sometimes.

"I never did start turning into a Zola. But there was a while there where I was so ruthless that I may have been worse than them. I was going to get revenge on Ganon, no matter who got in my way. No matter who." He dropped his head and sighed.

As he couldn't speak, Link put his hand on the Zora's shoulder.

'"That's the past, though. I'm not sure if I've managed to make up for that. Only the goddesses can know for certain. Still, I have a feeling that you should move on soon. Ganon must surely know about you, from the beasts that you have defeated and those that have gotten away. It's too risky for you to stay in one place for long. But I've got to stay here. I have something I'm doing at this spring, in the depths of my cave. But I should get you that better sword I promised. Come on; let's go get that so you have the evening to get a feel for the difference in weapons." He got up, picking up their things, so Link followed suit.

So far, the two of them had only stayed in the entrance room of Josiah's cave. This evening, the Zora brought him down a side passage and into a locked room. It wasn't holding much, mostly personal items that meant nothing to Link, but must have meant something to Josiah. But hanging on the wall, there was a sword with a white metal blade and a brown handle. It was shaped and sized remarkably like his carved wooden sword.

Josiah brought it off the wall. "The white sword… this was crafted by Gorons, which is a race of rock beings that are naturals at rock and metal work. As such, it was one of the best swords money could buy before Ganon came. I used it for many years and have kept good care of it. Still... even though Ganon forbade all metal weapons, I am not sure that even this is enough to defeat him. The Evil King is terribly strong." He turned to Link. "I will trade this to you for your wood carved sword. Take it; you have proven your strength and worth as a swordsman to me."

Link brought out his wood sword and handed it to Josiah, who gave him the white sword. The weight was different, and noticeably heavier. But he would have to get used to it.

"You'll need to practice all your moves again before going into true battle with this sword," Josiah said. "Let us do that now." He held the wooden sword at ready. "Outside... I will bring a bottled fairy just in case, but this night, you shall battle with me."

A few minutes later, they were standing by the shores of the spring's pond. Josiah had Link's former sword, the carved wooden blade that the craftswomen of Waterfront had made for use by the fisherman. Link had Josiah's former sword, the white metal blade that the hidden smiths of the Gorons had made for Hyrule's swordsmen. Yet there were years of experience that gave the Zora an advantage, and a disadvantage of his age. Link wondered how even the battle really was.

"The inertia of the blade will be different," Josiah said. "You will have to use stronger force to move it, and the same to shift directions or stop. Keep that in mind, and come at me."

Link nodded, then went for a simple horizontal slash at his teacher. Josiah blocked it readily. To the credit of his hometown, the wooden sword did not crack or even splinter to the force of the metal blade. Josiah went to counter the slash, Link attempted to block, but was too slow bringing the metal blade to bear. The Zora then went into a combo, forcing Link into picking up how much more strength he needed in order to manipulate the different sword. He managed to block the fourth strike, the strongest blow of the combo. Then he led into his own counter, leading into his own combo. Josiah readily blocked or evaded all of his strikes.

But he nodded in approval. "You're getting there. Start a stab combo, to my left."

That was because the stab move was meant to pierce defenses, in gaps of armor. If Link actually aimed a stab at Josiah, he could accidentally kill his teacher. So he stabbed into the air, still putting power behind it. This led him to stumble slightly at the end of it, which the Zora willfully neglected to take advantage of. Instead, Link steadied himself and followed up with the stab led combo.

"Good, but be ready at any time to adjust your style. Do not fall into patterns." Josiah then started a vertical slice combo, but switched to the horizontal combo when Link started blocking more accurately. Link attempted to do something similar, although it was hard to break out of the pattern he had learned in.

The Zora made a sliding step back at the end of Link's combo, then made a jumping attack. Jump strikes were powerful, as they used the momentum of the swordsman to increase the potential damage of the hit. To block it, Link dropped down onto one knee and brought his sword up over his head. When Josiah stumbled at the block, Link rolled aside and back onto his feet, then made a charging dash attack by using the slide step technique.

That made Josiah laugh. "Excellent, putting moves together on your own. Now, show me your spin attack."

Link nodded, then got his sword into position. He then turned himself about, following through with his blade to end up in a strong hit. A latent magic of power (as the Zora had called it) caused a wave of energy to follow in wake, causing Josiah to back flip out of range.

"You can do that in the air too," he said, then demonstrated with a jump spin. "It has less range, though. That's it." He brought his sword in front of his face, then dropped it down to bow deeply to Link. "You fight well."

Link mimicked the action, then put his sword away when Josiah did.

"There is one more aspect to sword fighting that we didn't get around to covering," he said. "Sometimes, when your energy is running high and you are in good health, the magic of power will cause an energy sword to appear with your strikes. These swords will then fly out in a beam attack, striking anything in its path. The sword beams are powerful, but it is not often that they appear. Then again, when you start finding pieces of the Triforce of Power, you may find such things happening more often."

He clasped the Triforce he had. He wouldn't know until that happened.

His teacher smiled warmly. "I'm glad to have worked with you, Link. You know, I was thinking… with those ears of yours, you seem to be of Hylian blood. The Hylians have lessened as of late, merging into the humans and hiding. It may mean nothing. But then, it may mean that you are capable of magic, if there is anyone about to teach it. Maybe in northern Hyrule, if you ever get to visit that region."

Link shrugged. His business was here for now, in southern Hyrule.

* * *

 

"Link. Wake up." A hand shook him.

Quickly, he opened his eyes. He had been waking up, just relaxing. Josiah was there, looking concerned. He had Link's depth bag and handed it to him.

"We need to get you out of here, this instant," the Zora said. A blare of trumpets came from outside, in the distance. "Ganon and his retinue have arrived."

Link took the bag, then got dressed quickly. But he gave his teacher a sign that he was worried for him.

"Don't be," Josiah said. "If he's after me, then I've had this coming to me for years. If he's after you, we can't let him have you. You're not ready to take him on yet. Get the rest of the Triforce fragments and the blessings of the other two goddesses. I'll distract him. You can take a tunnel that will get you near Lake Hylia faster than the mountain trails."

Once he was dressed, he followed Josiah to a blank point in the rock walls. The Zora then put his hand through the rock face, proving that it was an illusion. Link placed his hand there and found the edge of the doorway.

"Josiah!" A voice bellowed from the entrance of the cave. "I've found you, you pesky minnow. Now I will squash you like the vermin you are."

"I would rather die fighting like this," he said softly. "I am not afraid." He glared out to the entrance and drew the wooden sword. "Ganon, you pig-headed freak! You finally grew enough wit to find me? I am not afraid of you!" He ran to face off against the King of Beasts.

Link's heart thumped in his chest and he wanted to cry out. Whatever the Zora thought of himself, he didn't think Josiah deserved to die. But then, he wasn't ready to fight Ganon, but he already had the pieces of what would eventually overcome the evil tyrant. Link moved through the wall, walking softly through the rock tunnel at first, but eventually running. Tears came to his eyes and he let them go.


	4. Magic Tricks

It took a few days, both to get there and to let go of Josiah's memory. He was going to leave anyhow, but to leave his teacher to his death was unexpected, and hard. It made him worry about Waterfront. Unfortunately, he could not return while Ganon lived, or the King of Beasts might decide to burn it down.

But Josiah wouldn't want him to mourn for long, or for his emotions to get in the way of his mission. Link came to the next dungeon, hidden away down a ramp and among some cliffs near the Lost Woods. This gateway had a strange structure, a concrete archway and dome that stood over steps made of the same. Indecipherable statues stood watch by the entrance. As they had no eyes, he didn't know if they were watching him or not. He descended into the dungeon.

The entrance was much like the others, made of red stone and filled with strange gargoyles watching whoever entered. But these statues did not move, nor shoot fireballs at him. For that, he was grateful.

In several rooms he ran into a lot of Darknuts, which were heavily armored from the front and wielded large broadswords. But save for their capes, they weren't well armored from the back. Link learned to slip behind them and defeat them from behind. After getting rid of a mass of them that had locked him in one particular room, he found a miniblin chest, which appeared unexpectedly.

Inside, he found a small square of round sticks, tied together with rope. It was about the same size as his hand stretched out. Was it what he thought it was? Such things were rumored to exist. He placed it on the floor; he'd heard of using vocal commands, but he could not do so. What about mental? Grow.

The wood square responded, glowing brown, then growing into a large log raft, about six foot by six foot. An oar was attached to one edge. As he thought, it was a pocket raft, a small water craft that could be packed in a bag and used when needed. That could be useful if he needed to cross dangerous waterways (although it was smaller than the ocean, one did not want to swim across Lake Hylia, with its population of lake Zolas and knife fish), or small holes. He thought for it to revert and it obeyed. So he picked it up and placed it in his bag.

Through exploring the dungeon, Link came across another locked door with a metal plaque. It had a strange name on it, 'Manhandla'. He unlocked the door and entered.

And met with a strange and large monster. It looked like a large ball of thick fur, which had tulip-like growths sticking out, four of them. Whether tulips or jaws, they spat out large yellow orbs of magical energy. He thought for a bit of just leaving it be, but the door on the other side was magically locked to the life force of this monster. That, and it rolled over and tried to bite his head off. Link slashed at the offending tulip jaw, then made a slide step out of the way of one of its magic orbs. Then he cut the jaw off.

The other three jaws yowled and the creature sought to devour him in revenge. Remembering Josiah's lessons, he kept his nerves and cut off the tulip jaws one by one. But as it lost jaws, the creature grew more frantic, rolling about at a faster and faster pace. When it was down to one, Link found himself continually running around the room in an attempt not to get run over by it. The one jaw spat out energy balls at a frantic pace, making things highly chaotic. Finally, he got a chance when it over shot him and turned to face him with the last jaw. He jumped up and used a spinning attack to cut off the last jaw. The body then rolled into a wall and collapsed into a mess of skin, fat, and fur. The door on the other side of the room unlocked.

What in the world was that monster? Link wasn't sure, but he didn't want to stick around in case the other monsters came to kill him for killing their boss. He went through the door and into another altar room.

Noticing a golden glitter, he smiled and brought out the other fragment of Wisdom. He picked up the new fragment and tried to see how it linked to the other. Comparing them to the Triforce piece of Courage, he guessed that there were two other fragments of Wisdom left. With that, he mentally called on Zelda.

She didn't come immediately. He sat down, glancing back at the door. But so far, he'd not seen monsters in a room like this. He pulled some jerky and dried fruit out of his depth bag to eat. This had been a long dungeon to get through.

Finally, Zelda's image came. "Oh, you are still there. Good." She bowed her head and put her hands to her chest. "Ganon was watching me. I couldn't contact you like that. So, thank you for waiting."

He nodded, then showed her the second fragment.

"Good. Oh, and I wanted to say… I've been having visions of you sometimes. I was wondering why I had not heard from you in a while and I prayed to the goddesses. You found a master swordsman to teach you better? But, he's gone now. I'm sorry."

She could see things like that? He nodded with a serious look to his face and put his hand over his heart. It hurt, but he was going to keep moving. That's what Josiah wanted him to do.

"You're taking it well. I worry about you, though. Please, don't do anything reckless. Now, let me see if I can find the other fragments."

Link stepped forward and held out the pieces for her to hold her hands over. She must be very powerful with magic, he realized, to be doing all this even though he was in a dungeon and she was trapped in Ganon's palace.

"You will return to Lake Hylia," Zelda said. "Oh, but… I sense something else… someone in danger? Is it you, or someone you will meet?" She opened her eyes and shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell what exactly this warning is about. I'm not a master of seeing; I only learned when the Triforce piece of Wisdom granted that power to me." She curtsied. "Link, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. May the goddesses be watching over us." Her image then vanished.

Link closed his eyes as he was brought out of the dungeon. Then he checked his map. Lake Hylia, the other dungeon that had been marked on the map when he bought it. And someone could be in danger. He should head there right away.

* * *

 

It was late afternoon. Normally, he'd be making camp right now. But Zelda's vision was in his mind, so he brought out his new pocket raft and placed it on the end of a pier in Lake Hylia. The lake was smooth, a deep dark blue. Ripples occasionally betrayed what lived below the surface. If he was to avoid attack, he would have to be quick in the crossing.

Grabbing the oar, Link stepped onto the full sized raft. He was used to larger boats, but he knew how to direct a raft. Pushing off the dock with the oar, he began paddling across the lake. It was hard work, but he was used to it in being from a fishing village.

He crossed over to the island without much trouble. At one point, there had been an ominous rippling; it must have been a kind of fish that wasn't a monster. He brought the raft to the island's shore, crossed onto land, then shrunk the raft and put it back in his pack.

The small island had the same kind of concrete structures as the last dungeon entrance did, in almost the same style. Why had people built them in this way? Or had people done this? According to the elders, the land had changed greatly during the time Ganon held onto the whole Triforce. The dungeons could be reflecting that. He entered the dungeon.

The first few rooms weren't too bad, although packed with weak monsters like Gels and Keese. And then, without warning, he walked into a room and it turned completely dark. He patted the Triforce of Courage, but apparently even the blessing of the goddess Farore wasn't enough to light up this room. He brought out his blue candle. As it was only a temporary light, this would be a hassle, but… he lit it.

By the blue light, Link saw some large stone columns, with mummies wandering about. But he noticed that one was holding onto a stick that could have been a torch. He made his way over to it, but the candle went out partway across the room. Link had to fight the mummies blind; thankfully, they turned to just dust and rags when defeated. Because of that, he could hear the clatter of the torch when he defeated the mummy holding it.

Pausing, he listened. He didn't hear anything else in the room, just his own breathing and heartbeat. So he knelt down and felt around for the torch. Then he had to wait on the blue candle to recharge enough to produce a flame. He lit one end of the torch, then put the candle away.

As he kept going, the dungeon kept being dark. The monsters were used to it, so screamed or moaned when he entered rooms with his lit torch. He kept facing large numbers of enemies; this dungeon was packed for some reason. When he thought that maybe the end was near, it just kept going.

He kept finding pools of water in his way, all over the dark dungeon. After seeing a gel monster get dissolved when it slipped into one, he decided that trying to swim them was foolish. But he did have the pocket raft. It was a little annoying to continually bring it out, make it grow, cross, then shrink it. But that was the safest way, although he jumped them if he thought he could.

He came upon another Manhandla, which surprised him. It was in an unmarked room. Thankfully, it did not have a sealed door, so he simply bolted through to the next room instead of fighting it. When he did come to a marked room, it was marked with the name 'Gleeok'. A mighty two toned roar came from the room… along with a girl's scream.

Startled, Link unlocked the room in a hurry and ran in to help. He was met with a large two headed dragon that had very long necks. Chained to one of the pillars in the room was a young woman about his age, looking battered and afraid. One of the dragon heads noticed him and snorted smoke. It then began spitting fireballs at him.

Tossing the torch against the other column (and thanking the goddesses that it didn't go out because of that), Link took the white sword and started fighting the dragon. The two heads continually tried to bite him, but their necks could not do so easily if he kept close to the dragon's body. And its weight was so great that it could not strike him with its feet, or short tail. Link kept close to its body and tried to stab through cracks in its scales. His sword sent off sparks doing so.

He got a chance once to stab into one of the necks, so he took it. With a loud cry, that neck became detached from Gleeok's body. However, the head then detached from the neck. Its eyes began to glow bright red as it flew around the room, constantly trying to shoot fireballs at Link.

On his next slash, one scale came off the dragon's chest. Taking advantage of that, Link stabbed right through the new weak spot. Dragon's blood sprayed all over him as Gleeok screamed. Strangely, its body began to turn into smoke and dust. But its blood remained on him, soaking into his clothes.

Ignoring that, he went to the column that the girl was chained to. She was unconscious, limp in the iron restraints. Link brought out his magic key and used that to unlock the chains. Had the monsters brought her here? But more importantly, how was he going to get her out? He dreaded going through the long winding dungeon with an injured girl along.

But then, Zelda could get them out. He grabbed her, ignored the torch, then carried the girl into the altar room behind the door that the dragon Gleeok had been guarding. He placed her by the curved row of columns, then went up and took the next fragment of Wisdom. He put that into his bag for the time being, then went back over to the girl, thinking for Zelda.

He got a telepathic thought instead. "I can't speak right now," she said. "But I sense that you have someone to help. I'll send you both out of there. Hold her."

Link went to support the girl again, then closed his eyes as Zelda teleported them to the island. It was a small island, so he gathered some wood from nearby, made a messy fire, then checked on her. As the girl hadn't yet revived, he let a fairy go free to heal her.

Giggling, the tiny glowing creature healed the girl, then shot off across the lake to escape. By the firelight, he saw that the girl was wearing a white dress, typical for victims that were to be sacrificed to monsters. Her hair and eyes were both an icy blue. Confused, she looked over her arms, then up at him. "Oh, um… did you rescue me?"

He nodded, bringing out his fishing pole. Although worn out, he needed to get something for them to eat.

Looking relieved, she smiled. "Thank you so much. My name is Koume; I'm from Leaflee, a little village in the southwestern woods. Who're you?"

He held out his wrist so she could see the bracelet, then checked over his pole. Hopefully, there were some worms that could be easily found.

"Link? How peculiar. Oh, but if we need food, I can handle that if you don't mind that I'm a witch." She giggled. "I don't look like it, do I? Lots of people expect witches to be old hags, but me and my sister aren't like that.

He shrugged, then put his fishing pole away. None of the witches in Waterfront could really be called hags, although some were old. And they were all quite nice ladies.

"Aieh zeda, kou eto, hanla dei," Koume said, spreading her hand out and making circles over the fire.

The flames turned red, twisting and growing upward. Then, there was a puff of gray sparkling smoke. Link put his hand over his nose, but he still coughed. When the smoke cleared, there was a black pot on the fire, cooking Cucoo meat in a creamy sauce with some vegetables. A second pot had rice steaming in it.

"And there we go," she said, smiling proudly. "Oh, but it does have to cook a bit. The problem with summoning magic food is, you either have it now and it tastes bland, or it tastes good and you have to wait on it. I prefer to wait on it if I can."

He nodded, then he looked over his clothes. The dragon's blood was drying, leaving great red-brown stains all over. Not only that, but he had a smoky bloody scent now, like the dragon. Could this be cleaned off or was it permanently stained?

"I can't do anything about your clothes, sorry," Koume said. "My sister Kotake could mend them. We can ask her… oh, would you mind escorting me back to Leaflee? I mean, I was carted up here by Moblins and I don't want to get captured again." She fidgeted nervously with her hair, glancing around.

Link put his hand on the Triforce. If she were too long around him, she might be carted off to worse than being dragon food. But, he didn't want to send her back on her own. He wasn't sure how much offensive magic she knew. So he nodded.

"Thanks."

* * *

 

In the morning, he worked on cleaning up their campsite, then shared a breakfast of dried fruits and jerky with Koume. She seemed dissatisfied with such humble foods, but Link only had what he could carry or gather. He brought out the raft and crossed with her over Lake Hylia.

"You're cursed, aren't you?" the young witch said. "Both in not speaking and in having been chosen by that fragment of gold."

He shrugged. The voice, yes. But the golden Triforce would eventually lead him to defeat the one who was corrupting their homeland. For that, he was willing to deal with the burden of being alone.

"It's a sorry fate when the one blessed by the goddesses is ostracized for it," she went on. "But maybe you have your reasons."

After getting off at the shore and reverting his raft back, Link let Koume direct him along the edge of the lake, then down south into the forests. But something started to bother him. They weren't attacked at all; he hadn't had to fight since defeating Gleeok. While it was a relief, he knew that there should be more monsters around, like Zolas spitting waterballs at them, or Moblins with spears and bows. But there was nothing. And the birds were silent too. Occasionally, there was a crash of a small animal, but always running away.

Maybe it was something to do with Koume. Link knew that the monsters were after him for holding pieces of the Triforce. And he'd picked up nothing in the last dungeon that would account for such silence in the normally active woods. The only thing different was her.

"These woods are a little confusing," Koume said. "Don't get too far from me, okay?"

He nodded, but felt that he had to be wary. They started heading south.

Before long, he began to notice things. These woods felt different from those on the eastern side. They were denser, with leaves almost covering up the sky. Ground plants sprawled all over, trying to catch the best spots for the shifting spots of sunlight. And yet, the plants didn't care about the dirt path the humans were trying to follow. Every plant seemed like nothing he had ever seen: strong scented fruits, strangely colorful flowers, large mushrooms and toadstools.

No, it wasn't just that novelty. There was a strong feel of magic to this place, magic that was trying deliberately to confuse them. Koume seemed to know exactly where they were headed. Every now and then, Link felt a bewildering twist, like the forest was changing directions on them. Every time that it happened, the pieces of Wisdom that he had pulsed with their own power, correcting his sense of direction. He could tell that they were still headed south thanks to that.

That was a reassurance. After a while, the woods became strangely repetitive. Link was sure he'd seen that particular tree before, with that arrangement of toadstools. Had they entered the Lost Woods? They must have, for no other place Link had ever heard of would be like this.

Koume paused a moment to pull some fruits off a nearby tree. "Time for a snack, huh? Here you go." She offered him one while keeping the other.

He shook his head, refusing it. He hadn't suspected her last night, but since they were in the Lost Woods and he didn't know if the red pear-like fruit was safe, he wouldn't take it. Sometimes magic worked that way.

"Oh, you sure? The pears of these woods are really good." Seeing that he wasn't going to take it, she plucked a berry off a bush. "Or how about a yellow raspberry? They look odd, but they taste really unique."

He shook his head.

For a moment, a look of annoyance crossed her face. But it soon melted into giggles. "A picky eater, huh? Strange, you wouldn't expect that in a traveler. Moving around so much, you'd have to take what was offered. Oh wait, I know! There's one fruit around here that everyone loves." She looked around, moved ahead, then stopped by a large silvery green bush. Reaching inside, she pulled out a mango. "Here, this seems ripe."

A mango? Link was intrigued by it. They grew by his hometown of Waterfront and were greatly prized. When they were ready, the women of the village would dry slices of them, then try to avoid the sweet fruit being noticed by Ganon's tax collecting moblins.

But, wasn't it out of season? And even if it was something he was familiar with, it had still grown in this enchanted forest. He had no idea what would happen if he were to eat it. And Koume still gave him a sense of something being off. She seemed remarkably unconcerned about returning home after being rescued from a two headed dragon. No matter how he might think about it, something wasn't right. He shook his head, holding his hands up. He had some dried fruits and he'd be okay with that.

Then, a blue aura appeared around him, similar to the green one he had seen a while ago. The three fragments of Wisdom he had emerged from his bag, glowing bright. After fusing together with one piece still missing, they joined the partial piece of Courage that he had on the gold chain. A woman's voice spoke as if close to his ear and far beyond the sky. "Finder of the pieces of Wisdom, the pieces you hold have found you worthy of their power. Wise one, receive the blessing of Nayru, which will allow you to see past the veils of enchantments. May you find what you are seeking for."

As the blue aura faded, he found the Lost Woods to look very different. There was strong enchantment everywhere, entwined in everything. Now that he knew magic better, he could tell the some of the fruits would be harmless. But not taken from the hands of Koume, for she was no longer a thin pretty young woman dressed in white. Now she was a hag, with a strangely large head, rough skin with warts and wrinkles, a long curved nose, and the same white dress, only bigger and broader.

And she seemed aware that he was now aware. "You! How dare you defy us! Kotake, come help me punish this boy."

A second hag witch appeared, like her blue haired sister, only red haired. "Dear, you must be losing your touch if you can't entrap a handsome young man like him for our slave," she said.

"I am not. And I wasn't expecting him to defeat my dear Gleeok so quickly either. You messed up on getting that message to the young hero's dreams too soon."

"I hadn't started on that," Kotake hissed, turning to her sister. "He isn't even the one I was watching."

Now would be a good time to get out of here, Link felt. He stepped over a vine in the way, taking quiet steps back as their argument started. Then he ran north. Before long, he came across a split path that went four ways. Nayru's blessing allowed him to see now that there were two possible ways for him to escape. Keep north, which somehow seemed like it would be a longer path, or turn east, which was a much shorter exit. He went east.

And was immediately out of the Lost Woods. But he might still be in danger. Link headed east, still running. One of the dungeons he had been in was here. Perhaps he could contact Zelda again for some better instructions.

He soon found the strange concrete gateway and reentered. He remembered this dungeon as being one of a lot of mobs, like Keese, Gels, and Stalfos. But right in the first room with all the gargoyles, he knew it was different. For one thing, it was all tiled with white marble; the gargoyales were all white marble, with ruby red eyes.

But this was the same dungeon, in the same place on his map. So they really could change layouts when no one was inside them. Moving cautiously, Link went through the locked door. It seemed odd that it was so close to the entrance.

The next room was completely dark. He heard something roar in the distance, causing a chill down his spine. However, up ahead was a single floor torch, its white flame shining and flickering. White? It had a sense of enchantment to it, so Link approached it.

As he did, he heard a clamor of hooves. A Lynel? Link got by the torch and saw an orange figure fast approaching. But that wasn't a Lynel. It was a horse like creature with a long and thick neck, a short head, and a long flaming horn in the middle of its eyes. Bringing his shield up, he made to stab the creature.

The sword passed right through it and he was blasted with a power like lightning from the creature's horn. It knocked him into the torch's light where something curious happened. On hitting the edge of the light, the beast screamed horrifically. It retreated to the darkness.

“Oh my," a small voice said. It had a bell like quality to it, somehow. "Are you all right? Here, let me fix that." An orb of light appeared, sending a ring of hearts around him. Within that light, there was a fairy, a small person wearing a dress of autumn leaves and having curly green hair.

Link touched his face, but felt nothing from that electrical attack. He nodded to the fairy, then gave her a smile. But she wasn't like the tiny fairies that could be caught in bottles. She was about a foot tall.

After looking him over, the fairy came close to touch the Triforce pieces. "Oh, are you a hero of the goddesses? You are! How amazing. Well hero, would you help me please? I have been trapped by Aquamentus for a number of years now. And this form of the dungeon is rare, so hardly anyone comes. Those who do stumble into this one, well, sometimes even I can't save them." She sighed and looked sad.

He nodded, offering his hand to her. However, there was a problem. He couldn't hurt Aquamentus, and this spot of light seemed to be the only safe place. The monster seemed to know that.

She tilted her head, as if she were listening somehow. "Oh right, you can't hurt it when the room is dark. Well, there are other torches in this room. If you could light all of them, that would make the whole room light, and Aquamentus would be vulnerable. But, my magic flames can only light one torch at a time, and I can't even tell where they all are."

Getting up, Link looked around. Eventually, he spotted a sign of enchantment in the darkness. It looked to be another torch, but unlit. He reached into his bag with his shield hand and brought out the blue candle.

"Great, you have a candle! Now if we could just find the torches."

He smiled, trying to reassure her that that was nothing to worry about. Then, listening for the sounds of Aquamentus, he ran for the next torch. The fairy chimed in worry and followed after him. Immediately, the monster roared and started charging again. Link reached the torch, activated the candle, then lit the torch with it. A white flame soon blazed, while the former torch remained lit. Yowling in alarm, the monster scrambled back to avoid hitting the area of light.

The game of waiting on the blue candle to reset, then rushing to the next torch before Aquamentus got them, it went on for quite some time. They found six torches and still the room wasn't lit. Then eight, then ten. Finally, on lighting a twelfth torch, the room light up with a strong white light. Aquamentus screamed in agony, wildly firing electrical balls at them.

Link and the fairy dodged around the attack while getting closer. If he ever got hit, the fairy took care of healing him. When he started battling Aquamentus with his sword, the monster replied by trying to club him with its thick bulky arms. It almost got to the point where the fairy couldn't keep up.

Weren't all of its electrical attacks coming from one spot? Link used a jump spin attack on Aquamentus' horn; it cleaved the horn in two easily. Electricity began pouring out of the horn, showering over Link and Aquamentus. Seeing that the monster's magic was fading, he finished it off by stabbing at the weakest point he could see. With that, the monster collapsed into a sparking heap.

Link got away from it before he got zapped again. His hair was fluffing out from the static. Healing him one last time, the fairy dropped onto his shoulder. "Phew, that was hard work for both of us. But thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I'd like to go home now, but ugh, my wings are aching."

Nodding, he held up his hand for her to be patient. He crossed the large room to another door and then went through. As he thought, there was the altar room. He went up the steps, then sent out a request for Zelda to answer him.

It was quiet.

The fairy, who had been leaning against his neck, spoke up, "You're looking to contact someone, right? She's still alive, I can tell that. But she can't answer you right now. Something isn't right. I don't know what to tell you."

Hearing that, he bowed his head, hoping that Zelda was okay. Then he felt the power of Nayru start up again. The room around him vanished, soon to be replaced by the concrete gateway and the eastern woods. However, it wasn't the princess doing it. It seemed that he was capable of that spell, a gift granted by the blessing of Nayru.

"I live up north, a little bit west," the fairy said. "There's a pond there… not in the Lost Woods, I promise."

Link heard some birds calling, and saw an Octorock slinking about. Perhaps even the mindless monsters saw Koume as a bigger threat. The fairy was more trustworthy, but that would make crossing the woods harder. Still, he left heading north, turning a bit west when the fairy asked him to.

As the sun began to turn the sky orange in dusk, they found a small blue pond. It seemed oddly murky for a fairy's pond, although this fairy's power was still around. "Oh, it's good to be home again at last," the fairy said. "You may set up camp near my pond. The monsters never come near here, so you can get a good night's rest. But geez, it's going to take some time for me to get things back to how they should be." She yawned then.

Link offered his hand, then brought her down to a patch of ground near a rock. She settled into some grass and was soon asleep. Being careful not to disturb her, Link set up camp and ate a small meal. He was hungry still when he finished, but didn't have much food left. Soon, he settled down on the ground as well and went to sleep.


	5. The Weavers

Although he'd slept on the hard ground, Link felt better than he had in days. Being near the fairy's pond, no monsters came to disrupt him and the natural magic of the place helped to restore his mind and body. And that was near a weakened fairy's pond. It must be much better to be near a healthy fairy's pond.

He heard a bubbly song nearby. The fairy was singing as she cleaned up her pond area. Sitting up and looking around, he saw that the place was already much better. The pond was sparkling blue and the flowers were perking up. She noticed him and flew over. "Good morning, Link!" she said cheerily. "I made you some good breakfast. I can't have anything meat, though, so instead, I made cabbage leaf rolls with fruit and nut salad in them, as well as some honey cakes. Have however much you like; I can make more easily and it's part of my thanks to you."

Smiling, he gave her a sign of gratitude by patting his chest, then turned to find the items sitting on a large flat rock. Had that rock been there last night? Or was it a fairy trick? Whatever it was, he could see now that it was harmless, unlike Koume's attempts to enslave him. The cabbage rolls were crisp and sweet, while the honey cakes were tender and appetizing. He ate several of each, since they were small.

After a while, the fairy came back to him. "Oh, and there's more! I'll give you a special gift now." She then darted in and kissed Link on the cheek. It was a little light press, but something happened with that. She flew back and giggled. "It's more than just a kiss! I've given you a mark that you've save the life of a fairy. Now, whenever you find one of my kin, they'll help you by healing you and letting you camp in safe spots like this. And, they won't try to trick you like they would play pranks on other travelers. That is a good gift."

He nodded. Knowing that even in this dangerous land where he was sought out by the tyrannical ruler, that there could be safe areas for him to rest, that was a big help. As was dissuading fairies from playing pranks. They said it was play, but their victims often ended up with minor curses, stolen items, or a severe case of being lost.

"And, one other thing. I noticed that your clothes are all nasty and gunky, especially with dragon's blood. It's not in my power to fix that, but I know someone who can." She popped underneath the surface of her pool, then emerged with a corked bottle. Something white was swirling inside it. "Here, take this, but don't open it yet. Go east of here to the shores of Lake Hylia. There's a cave in a hill that holds a shop around the western shore; it'll be close enough that the Zolas can spit at you, so don't go too far from the shore and be careful. Go down into that shop and meet with the shop keeper. She'll probably try to drive you off because she's scared of Ganon's wrath too. But unplug that bottle and she should change her mind. You'll probably have to do some work to pay them off, but you'll get clothes that can handle a dungeon explorer's job better. And those comprise my thanks to you, Link. I hope you find what you are seeking."

The fairy then vanished into a cloud of sparkling pink hearts.

* * *

 

After walking through the woods, Link arrived at the shores of Lake Hylia when it was still early morning. Close enough that the Zolas could spit on you… if it meant actual spit, that wasn't far. But if it was their water orbs that they attacked with, then that could be for some distance. But not into the trees of the eastern forest. Link walked along the shoreline of Lake Hylia, searching for a cave and watching out for Zolas.

Eventually, he came upon a small hill along the coast of the lake. There was a cave entrance there, with a sign saying, 'Weaver's Goods, servicing the brave adventurers of Hyrule'. And just outside of the entrance, there was a middle aged woman in a green dress, cleaning up the stone porch of her shop with a straw broom.

She looked up at him and waved. "Good morning, sir. Do you need anything from my store? I have plenty of goods available."

He waved back, then came closer.

And she saw the Triforce pieces around his neck. Clutching her broom, she said, "Erm, that is… I pay my dues to King Ganon to keep things safe. But, well, I would hate inconveniencing you, but I can't go against the King."

He nodded, then took out the bottle and pulled out the cork.

And the voice of the fairy came out of it, along with the white swirl inside. "Hello Mrs. Weaver," the fairy said a little too sweetly. "It's been some time since I've seen you."

Mrs. Weaver paled.

"Yeah, ever since you caught me and sold me to that evil Aquamentus!" the fairy yelled from the bottle. "I agreed to teach you some secrets, but you repaid me by giving me up to a monster. That is a very bad thing and you know what happens to people who cross the fairies.

"But then, even I could be forgiving if you make up for the betrayal. You should come by my pond later, but right now, I need you to help the man who saved me, Link. I don't care that you're scared that Ganon would like to see him squished along with anyone who would help him. That evil pig wizard has turned our land to one of terror and monsters and I'm not going to let it stay that way. I can't do much, but Link here has blessings from Farore and Nayru. So he's got the best chance of defeating Ganon that anyone has had for a long time.

"You need to make him some new clothes, a tent, and a blanket. This poor boy seems to have left his home without even those basic things. I will be kind enough to allow the help you give him to count towards your debt price to me. But you had better do a good job. He can fight the monsters around there, and if it really becomes a problem, I can arrange something. But that's if you're nice to me and Link. I'll be seeing you, then." Leaving off with that vague sing-song threat, the voice stopped, along with the white swirl that had been inside. Now it was just another empty bottle.

"Oh dear," the woman said, stepping back to lean on the frame of the doorway. "Well if she puts it that way… all right, I'll help you. Come inside, Link, and I'll see about getting your measurements for new clothes."

He followed her down into a shop that had a lot of goods that adventurers would need or want. But a lot of it was pricy too, like a blue candle that was twenty rupees more than the one he had bought from the family down south of the lake. Her food rations were fairly priced, though, and clothing, textiles, and blankets were hard to come by in stores and traveling merchants.

She brought out a pencil, a pad, and measuring tape, then began checking him over. "Smells like dragon's blood. That stuff won't come out of a fabric like this."

He nodded. That's why he needed new clothes, now that the stains had fully set in.

"Not to mention other wears and tears. You've have a rough time of it, it seems. Although, given what's around your neck, that's no surprise. And that style… you come from Waterfront, don't you?"

He nodded, then looked to her as if he wanted to ask a question. He wasn't sure how to sign it out to a stranger though.

"Waterfront? I hear that it's still doing good lately. I had a trader come in three days ago with some of their famed depth bags, like you have here. Would you like the same kind of style and dye?"

He nodded. And, it was good to hear that his hometown was doing all right. They hadn't been punished for his presence.

"All right, I can do that, as well as give it a bit of enchantment to keep stains from setting in like this. Although…" she went quiet and finished up her measuring. When she was done, she put her tools down. "Link, may I ask you to do something for me while I make these clothes? You see, my husband went into a dungeon nearby; he does that regularly as it's a hidden one and we often find goods for our store there. But he's been gone for a week now and I'm very concerned. He normally takes three days at most, but it's too much for me to go in there alone. Could you go in after him and see what's happened?"

Link agreed to do that. Besides, it was better that he stay away from the shop and keep Ganon's minions from suspecting Mrs. Weaver of helping him.

She sighed and bowed to him. "Oh, thank you. I'll get right to work on this. The dungeon my husband goes into is to the northwest. Follow the shore of the lake north until it turns east, then you should turn west. There's a large meadow in that area where the foothills of Death Mountain start. There will be six Armos statues standing in a circle around the entrance of the dungeon; you'll either have to fight them or sneak past them without activating them."

* * *

 

Link was crouched in the tall grasses of the meadow Mrs. Weaver had mentioned. Behind him and down a long slope, there was Lake Hylia spread out across the land. Ahead of him and a little elevated, there were the six Armos. These statues were undying. Brushing against them would awaken them, and doing enough damage would cause them to fall back asleep. They were like square pillars carved into the likeness of stout knights, with enormous shields that wrapped almost entirely around their bodies. Fighting an Armos was something that he did not want to do.

Slowly, he approached the Armos. There were gaps between them, but were they enough? Link turned to the side, then walked sideways between two of the Armos. He even held his breath, not wanting the undead knights to turn out to be highly sensitive. When he got past them, he let out his breath, then got onto the ladder that lead into a hole in the ground. The Armos never moved.

The ladder was long, but sturdy; posts from it went out into the rocks of the tunnel. Then the tunnel opened up into one of the gargoyle filled entrance rooms and he stepped into the dungeon proper. He worried about what the fairy had said about getting stuck 'in that version' for several years. What if Mr. Weaver had gotten stuck in a version other than this one he had entered? But Link would look, at least.

This dungeon was bewildering. Every room had four doors in it, even the entrance. And with his sense for magic, he could see that the doors were enchanted. They did not lead directly to the next room. Instead, they were teleporting him to other rooms in the dungeon, so that if he turned right around and went back through the door, he would end up in a completely different room than he had been before.

And he started running into Wizzrobes, clouds of colored gas that were cloaked in thick and long coats, giving the illusion that they were human. They could teleport out of his sword swings and launch many kinds of spells at him. He learned to keep on his toes when he heard their distinctive hissing sounds.

One orange Wizzrobe decided to lock him into the room they were in by magic seals and fight him that way. It was armed with a bow, which struck Link as peculiar as it had no quiver. But it pulled back the string, making a magic ice arrow appear, then shot that at him. Link got out of the way as a streak of ice appeared on the floor where the arrow had landed, then shot up spikes of ice. He pulled out his boomerang when the orange Wizzrobe disappeared and waited.

Then he heard the hiss of its gas body, turned around, and threw the magic boomerang at the monster. It got dazed by the hit, dropped to the ground and stayed there. Link ran over and struck it with his sword. He hit something in the gas body, which caused the cloak to collapse with nothing inside it anymore. Then it frayed and began undoing itself into useless weak threads.

But the bow remained. Maybe the magic that returned weapons to Ganon did not always work. Link picked up the bow and looked it over. He'd never used one before, so he wasn't sure how to judge it. To his limited knowledge, the wood part seemed strong, yet flexible, while the enchanted string was tight. He pulled it back and was surprised at the effort it took to do so. He'd be able to use it, yes, but not until he found some arrows and a quiver. Noting a spot of control magic, he figured out how to shrink the bow to a more manageable size to put into his depth bag.

With the door seals gone, he continued searching the dungeon. Several rooms later, he came across a strange room with a black tiled floor. Large firepots were sitting around the edges, giving off plenty of light and heat. In the center of the room, there was a large magic barrier. And behind it, there was a middle-aged man sitting near the edge. Was that Mr. Weaver?

He looked up, surprised. Then he got up. "Oh, another traveler! You don't know how glad I am to see you. I'm Mr. Weaver, and I'm quite stuck here. You could help me, but…" he looked guilty and worried.

Link went up to the barrier and held up his wrist with the name bracelet.

"Oh… Link? You could really use some new clothes, but my wife would be the one to take care of that."

He nodded, then pointed upwards in what he hoped was the direction of the shop. Then he tapped his stained tunic.

"Are you trying to tell me that she sent you down here in exchange for that?" he guessed.

He nodded again.

"Oh good. Well, I'd love to get out of here, of course, but there's a little problem." He snapped his fingers, making a leather quiver appear in front of the barrier. However, there was an energy field about it. "You see, I got a little too greedy and picked up this thing. It's a magical quiver that never runs out of arrows and it evades the arrow tax that Ganon has had in place for years, the one that makes a bowman pay one rupee per arrow. I was going to sell it in my shop, but then the master of the dungeon caught me stealing it. Now, I'm being forced to sell it before I can leave this place. The thing is, being tax exempt means that the dungeon master set the price really high, at 200 rupees. I suppose it is a good deal if you use a lot of arrows, but I would think most people wouldn't want to pay that…"

But it was the man's ransom fee too. Link nodded, then pulled out his rupee bag. Did he have 200 rupees on hand?

"If you've got that amount, then place them in the cup formed by the energy. I can't profit off it now."

He had rupees in various amounts and colors, but managed to pull together 200 worth of them. He placed those in the payment cup and was then allowed to claim the magical quiver. The barrier keeping Mr. Weaver there also dropped. But the door Link had come through sealed itself.

"Don't worry about that door," he said. "I have a map of this place we can use to find another way out. Of course, the layout of this place is very tricky. There's only one door we can use now, so let's go. Do you have a bow?"

He pulled it out and resized it.

"Great." Mr. Weaver then pulled out his own, along with a differently colored quiver. His had blue trim, while Link's had yellow. "I'll show you how to use them. They are very useful, but do take some practice."

They went into the next room, which had a moat of acidic water around a central platform. Two octorocks were patrolling around on the far side, while strange rabbit eared creatures made up of a small lumpy body hopped around. The octorocks kept bumping into each other, then into two blocks that kept them from going around the edges towards Link and Mr. Weaver. The rabbit creatures seemed to be moving aimlessly.

"This will have to do," Mr. Weaver said. "The Pols Voice there in the middle are weak to arrows, but their movements and small bodies make them hard to actually hit. So let's try the octorocks first. Pull an arrow from your quiver, then place the feathered end in the center of the drawstring, and the arrowhead end beside the front; it should fit right between that large space between those yellow stripes."

Link nodded and did as instructed. It took a bit to figure out how to hold it and Mr. Weaver had to correct him on that. But then he had the arrow in place.

"Okay, next you need to draw the arrow back. Be aware that once you do, the string will grow tight and resist; don't let it slip or the string will snap out of your fingers or into your other hand. You can loosen a pulled arrow, but it takes control. And pull the bow up so that you are looking along the arrow's shaft, with your drawing hand near your shoulder.

"If you've got the positioning correct, then the arrow should fly to where the tip of the arrowhead touches in your vision. That is, in controlled situations like this. If the wind is blowing, or if the target is a great distance away, that will affect the flight of the arrow. And with moving targets like these, it is best to anticipate where they will be when the arrow reaches them. But you should see how the arrow flies first. Try for one of the octoroks now by letting go with your drawing arm. Keep your other arm steady."

He drew the arrow back and checked at the arrowhead, as Mr. Weaver had suggested. Making a guess about how fast the arrow would go against how the octorocks were moving, he aimed to a point in the center where they were meeting and let go of his arrow as they approached.

And killed the octorock that he had been hoping to hit.

"Nice shot, being your first time," Mr. Weaver said. "That is right, isn't it?"

Link nodded, then drew another arrow and killed the other octorock.

"A little slow, but you can decrease your times with practice. And with the Pols Voice, it's easiest to get them after they land. They hop unpredictably."

He missed twice, but was able to get rid of the rabbit monsters too. Mr. Weaver than pointing out an eye that sat above one door, saying that that acted like a lock or a switch in dungeons, which could be activated with an arrow or a boomerang, "if your aim is good enough with that kind of weapon". As that was where they wanted to go, Link hit the eye and unlocked the door.

After a convoluted process that involved going through one door five times, Link and Mr. Weaver came back to the room with the gargoyles and the ladder. Worried that the Armos might activate, Link indicated that he would go up and make sure the coast was clear. Mr. Weaver nodded and followed up behind him.

The Armos were still unmoving; Mr. Weaver indicated by a hand gesture that he usually just slipped by them silently. Link agreed and they did so, running once they got through in case something else activated them. On reaching the lake shore, they walked south to the Weavers' shop.

"Honey, I'm back," he called out as they descended into the shop.

"Darling!" Mrs. Weaver left her work and hurried over to hug him. "Oh, you're safe. What happened to you?"

"I got caught in a selling trap with an expensive item," he admitted. "But Link bought it off me; he's a fine fighter too and took to the bow like a natural."

"Oh, thank you so much, Link," she said, bowing to him. "I'm sorry I tried to turn you away at first. I know this land needs heroes, but with how harshly Ganon deals with them…"

He nodded, then thought of how to communicate something tricky. He attempted to tell that that he would leave, so they would be safe, after he bought some provisions. But he needed to know when she would be done with the clothes.

It took some guessing and other signs, but they eventually picked up on it. "Well thank you for thinking of our safety," Mrs. Weaver said. "It'll take me another four days to finish everything, even if I make it the top priority of my tasks. Can you make it back then?"

He nodded. He would just stay around the Lake Hylia area for the time being.

"Good, then I'll get back to work. Darling, you can give him a discount on his food provisions."

"Of course," Mr. Weaver said, smiling. "I could have been stuck down there for months otherwise."

Link smiled back. The discount would help, given that he'd used up a lot of his money on the quiver. So he went over to pick out the food items that he wanted.

* * *

 

He spent the next few days traveling around Lake Hylia, looking for other dungeons near it. He also practiced with his weapons and tools, like keeping the raft safe while he shot at Zolas in the lake. Or following up with his boomerang after an arrow, so that he could claim any items that a distant enemy held before Ganon's magic claimed them back. The bow and arrows were extremely useful and he shot a squirrel for his dinner once. While he liked fish, the squirrel meat was a good change of pace.

One time along the southern shore, he came across a battered merchant's stall. The store sign was in pieces next to it instead of above it, and the merchant was fixing a break in the middle of his counter. However, he seemed to still be open for business, as several items were out on display with the shop shields around them. And a firepot acted as a deterrent to monsters. Maybe. That was cracked too. Link came up and knocked on the counter.

"Huh?" The man, who didn't seem to be much older than Link was, bumped his head on the counter, grumbled a curse, then came out from under it. "How is it? Oh." He looked worried at the Triforce, but then hopeful. "Are you here to buy stuff? I'm still open for business if you need anything."

Link nodded, glancing over what the man had. It was various things: a pot of medicine, a regular length of rope, some kind of wrapped food, a blue candle, a regular key, and a large shield. That last interested him most. It would be more effective than the little shield he had gotten from Waterfront.

But before he could indicate it, the young man launched into a selling spiel. "You know what I have that's really great? Monster bait!" He indicated the large wrapped food item, which seemed like it could be candy, like brown butterscotch. "This is really amazing stuff. Open it up and monsters will come running! Great for gathering rupees or testing the limits of your skills. You can even bribe some of Ganon's forces with it. It is extremely effective, as, heh heh," he gestured around, "as the state of my shop will show. And this is a limited offer, as my very last piece of it. And it's cheap at 75 rupees. Some people will try to sell it for 150 rupees, but I'm giving you a great deal here."

Link shook his head and patted the Triforce. He had all the monster bait he would ever need in just holding onto it. Adding more bait would be overkill. He then pointed to the shield.

He looked disappointed. "Oh, right, that's the knight's shield. Now it may look as though it is made out of wood, but it will never burn and it is extremely tough. Just don't let any Likelikes get a hold of it, as they love to eat them. Even just a small bite will cause the shield to disintegrate." Then he brightened. "And hey, I'll make you a great deal today. You can have the knight's shield and the monster bait for 110 rupees. Nobody else will cut such a price for you, and the shield will help a lot when you use the bait."

He shook his head. He didn't really want something he'd never use around.

"Oh, please, sir? I really made a mistake when I accepted the bait as a new inventory item and I've just about gotten rid of them. I took a rather large loss when monsters attacked my stall because one of the baits got opened accidentally. I just need to get rid of this one, and then I can safely get back to going from town to town with my regular wares."

When put that way, it was hard for Link to still deny the offer. Besides, maybe he could find someone who wanted the bait for whatever reason. He nodded, indicating that he would take the bait and the shield.

"Thank you so much, sir! It's a pleasure doing business with you, really. I hope you get good use out of your new items! Oh, and really, don't mess with the wrapping on this until you're ready to use it. Keep it somewhere safe."

He nodded, then put it and his old shield into his depth bag. Then he attached the large shield to his arm. The straps for that were large, and went over both his upper and lower arm. But it covered a much greater area of his body than the little one. It just took more practice to get used to fighting with it.

* * *

 

After four days had passed, Link returned to the Weavers' shop to pick up his new clothes. Mrs. Weaver agreed to burn his old ones and offered him the use of a toilet room to change in. It felt good to get out of those dragon stench saturated clothes and into fresh new ones. Maybe he would attempt to find a part of Lake Hylia or the rivers where he could safely take a bath. His new ones clothes were like the old ones, green like the fields and with the Waterfront's trademark cloth cap. But they felt thicker, and tougher.

"There, you look much better now," Mrs. Weaver said. "And here is your tent and blanket. I had time to make a pillow too, even if the fairy didn't ask about that. The tent has all the things you need to set it up with, stakes, ropes, poles, and pins. Have you ever dealt with one? My husband can show you if not."

He nodded, indicating that he knew how to pitch a tent. He and the other boys had often gone camping on the edges of town for the adventure, at least until they were old enough to go out on the seas to catch fish.

He only had to pay a small amount for the work, so he left them not long after he received his goods. He searched along the river (figuring it would be safer than the lake) until he found a decent looking curve that would serve as a bathing area. As it was turning to evening, he set up his camp and fire. When he put up the tent, he was pleased to find that she had included a ground mat so he didn't have to lie directly on the ground anymore.

First, he searched around the river banks until he came up with a rough rock. He had no soaps, so just this would have to do to scrub off dirt. Then he spent a moment looking around to see if there was anything that might try attacking him from hiding. And in the river, but it looked to be just harmless fish in there. Feeling somewhat safe, he set aside his things, then stripped off his clothes and went into the cool river to clean up some.

That bathing time made him tense, though, as he had to keep a watch out. He still couldn't remove the Triforce necklace, so the monsters would come for him if they spotted him. Any noise in the trees or tumble of a small rock got his attention and he had to make sure it was nothing. He hurried as best he could, but the rock left his skin raw in patches if he moved too fast.

He made it through without any monsters appearing, so climbed out of the river and brushed excess water off with his hands. He had dunked his head a few times to wash out his hair and clean his face some, so that would take a while to dry. Once he got the most of the water droplets off, he went over and crouched by the fire, keeping warm and waiting until he could put his clothes back on.

It wasn't until he was getting his pants back on that he finally heard something suspicious. A woman's voice came from nearby. "He was marked by dragon's blood," she said. "How can you have not found him yet?"

"Give me a break, Koume," another woman said. The other witch sister, Kotake? "He's been moving around constantly and always cleans up his camping sites. It's not so easy to find someone who never camps in the same spot twice." There was a moment where he heard a loud snort. "And the scent here is old; I don't think he's in this area anymore."

Thank goodness for having new clothes, Link thought to himself. And washing himself had probably obscured his scent too. But, she was tracking him through scent? Were those two even human?

"There's a fire over there," Koume said. Link dropped down and picked up his knight shield, putting it back on.

There was another snort. "It must be a trader," Kotake said. "Various smells, but not the sort that a fighter and swordsman would have. Plus, it smells horribly too clean. I'm not going near there."

He thanked the goddesses for that luck and hoped that it would hold in time for the hags to pass. After several minutes of vanishing voices (and a new argument), he felt that he had eluded Koume and Kotake once more. But now he knew that they were searching for him. He would need to be careful.

Then he smiled, would have laughed if he could. He had to be careful even without a pair of strange hag twins chasing after him. He had the thing that the most dangerous evil magician and warrior in the land wanted and only he could protect himself.


	6. Unholy Voice

Link wasn't sure where to go, so he traveled around for a couple of weeks, looking for new dungeons, checking on old ones, and trying to reach Zelda. He wasn't being too successful with any of it. What worried him most was that Zelda never responded. What had Ganon done to her? Did she have a constant guard now? Or, had he killed her?

On reaching the northeastern foothills, he recalled something that Josiah had said. There was a dungeon in the Lost Hills somewhere. But, he wasn't sure where it was. With his new magic sense, could Link find it?

The Lost Hills appeared to be a wide expanse of rolling hills, littered with a great many boulders. Tall grasses and wildflowers covered everything and, like the Lost Woods, there were many unusual kinds here. Overhead, the sun beat down, making things bright and humid. It almost beat out his magic sense, since he relied on his sight to supplement it. But there appeared an invisible path, going three ways. A path to the south appeared to be one way from the rainless desert somehow. A path to the west would place him near the waterfall Josiah had lived near. And a path to the north seemed distant and long. Link headed north.

It was hard to tell how long he followed that path north. The sun seemed to stop in the sky while the grassy hills rolled on. There were birds and frogs singing, but they seemed more to confuse him than giving hints of time and distance. At one point, the southern path had vanished, but the short western exit remained available.

And then, quite suddenly, it was sunset with a light violet sky. Link was standing on a rocky plateau above the Lost Hills, with much fewer grasses and only a single gnarled bush. Here, there was another strange gateway, one of green stone that was surrounded by two obelisks with strange disks around the top points. There were a number of Tektites around that tried to jump him. After dispatching them, he descended into this dungeon.

There was something quite different about this place, Link felt. He wasn't sure what until he looked into the faces of the gargoyles. Normally, they were just watching. In this dungeon, they were twisted up in agony, disgust, or fear. And when he went to leave the room, there were more such faces on the walls. Not to mention that strange noises came from all around, hissing and growling, with the occasional yelp in the distance. Link found himself on edge as he proceeded.

Within one room, he came across not one, but three Dodongos. And they all saw and charged for him. As the door he had come through had sealed behind him, he ran for another. It was locked, but the three Dodongos were briefly stunned from running into the wall or crashing into one of the others. Link brought out his magic key, unlocked the door, then hurried through. And found himself faced with a dozen mummies. But at least those could be dispatched easier than the Dodongos.

Exploring onward, including through one bombed wall, he came across a familiar figure with large goggles and an orange suit. Smiling, he waved to Dupree, wondering if he could see him.

The older explorer paused, then waved back. "Ahoy there! What, you again, in one of my secret dungeons? Hah, you sharp. You do well as Dupree's apprentice, but, well, Ganon. What you do here?"

Link pointed back towards the room with the Dodongos.

And he nodded knowingly. "Ah, must be those guardian Dodongos. Yes, in tough dungeons, tough common guards. In easy dungeon, easy common guards. But, you remember what I say?"

He nodded, but then shrugged. He hadn't really beaten the first one.

"Hmm. See, no weapon pierce them from outside. But, bomb pierce them from inside! Takes two, but… your bomb bag, just has eight, correct?" When he affirmed that, Dupree rubbed his chin. "Well, I suppose it no harm if you get wholesale. I bet you would like more bombs. I increase bag for 100 rupees."

On checking his funds, Link agreed to that, bringing out his bomb bag and a hundred rupees.

"Ah, splendid!" Dupree then took the bomb bag and began tracing something over the outside, mumbling more incoherently than usual. The bag shifted as if it were now full, seeming larger than before. "There, now you have twelve! And I refill bag for you. I am generous, yes?"

Smiling, he nodded and took the bomb bag. That would help to defeat the Dodongos.

Dupree took a few steps. "Well, happy adventures then…" he paused. "Wait, you… you try to find end of dungeon here?"

Link nodded again.

"Oh, see, that tougher than fighting three Dodongos. Dupree, well, I am not tough or brave, yes. I make a living here. But you do more... oh, okay. Go south a couple of rooms and you will find many armed knights. Defeat them all and a way will open. At end of that way… well, something good is there. And let me give you one last advice: Digdogger hates certain kind of sound. That is all." The goggled dungeon explorer than left through the door Link had come through.

He was a strange man. But his advice and help had been good so far. Link decided to go south and see if he could find the 'good' thing.

Two rooms later, he saw that Dupree was not kidding about many armed knights. There were ten red ones, all patrolling around. However, they all seemed more mindless than usual, only attacking when he got close to them. Perhaps these were all malfunctioning ones? At any rate, Link tossed a lit bomb in the middle of a group of them. It only took one out, but heavily damaged the rest. Then he stayed in a corner and used his bow to strike at them far away, moving whenever any of them got too close. It took time, but he managed to clear the room.

There was a click, and then a grinding sound as one of the stone blocks in the room moved aside, revealing a small hallway with a spiral staircase. Link followed it down one level into a long hallway. It was dark and he could hear the cries and flaps of Keese down here. He brought out his boomerang, as that could easily take care of them, and walked quietly so as not to disturb them. At the other end of the hall, there was another spiral staircase.

Link came out and found himself in a long room, filled with those disturbing faces. And not just on the walls. There were stone statues all around of tormented people, most of them covering their ears and in mid scream. As he walked into the room, he saw just one living creature in there. An armored knight, with a canine face and a strong body. He had blue armor, a long flowing cape, and a giant sword that was possibly taller than Link was.

The dog knight looked to him, unimpressed. "You dare disturb Master Digdogger's quarters?" he asked in a deep booming voice. "You will end up as all the rest in here, turned to stone and kept in maddening pain for all eternity. Go back if you value your life."

Those were all people, trapped here as faces in the wall and tormented statues? Could he do anything about it? He hoped so. He shook his head, coming forward.

Then, some light must have shone on his Triforce, as the dog knight's mood suddenly changed from quiet to anger. "You! You're the one who dares to be greater than King Ganon? I don't believe this. I will kill you myself to stop your foolish crusade." He then roared like a demon-possessed thing and rushed at Link.

Link brought his sword and shield up to met with the dog knight's attack. He felt the immense strength behind the knight's blow and could tell that this would be even tougher than fighting Josiah. After jumping back a short distance, the knight came forward, using his blade to make a forceful downward chop. Link sidestepped around, getting to the point where he could cut off the knight's cape. That's when he discovered that it had the same weakness as the red knights: all of its armor was focused on protecting its front side.

Knowing this, the blue knight spun around to slice into him. But he was still weighed down by the armor. Link easily ducked and slashed across the knight's knees. He tried to get around the knight again, but it kept turning to face him with its protected side. Using its turns to add momentum to its heavy blade, Link was often just as concerned about keeping from behind hit.

And then he got slammed in the legs with the sword's broad side, causing him to hit the stone floor hard. For a second, he was dazed. But the knight was unable to stop its momentum and kept turning. Link got himself to his feet and sliced upward across its back, causing a deep wound. It also caused a dizziness in his head; he must have hit himself on the floor harder than he thought. But if he didn't pay attention to this fight, it would kill him.

His slice managed to cut through the knight's armor supports, causing it to slide off. Upon this, the dog warrior howled in fury, then spun around with amazing speed to kill him. Link barely caught it with his sword and the force made him stumble back a step. He took the chance to stab the dog warrior in the stomach area. When that stunned the blue knight, he then stabbed again, this time for the shoulder of his sword arm.

This made him howl again, but in agony. The dog warrior blue knight dropped to his knees. "S-so the goddesses' chosen can defeat me," he said. "Heh… not that I'm much but a failure, sent here because I could not prove my power to the fragment… if you think you have the power, go to the dungeon by the graveyard and complete it." Then he laughed strangely. "I've already failed Lord Ganon, so what does it matter? That is why I am here among the tormented dead, to join them." Then he closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground, dead.

Link felt strange for killing this one. The ones he had fought so far were definite monsters: unable to speak, having no will but their King's, having no mercy. But this one seemed to have a mind of his own. As well as the will to betray the King of Beasts? Or was this just a sadistic trap?

And then he started to hear it: the moans, wails, cries, and groans of the spirits around him. They had died agonizing deaths of being turned to stone, apparently from this Master Digdogger. Part of him wanted to get out of this place before he joined them. But then, more of him wanted to find a way to save them all. If only he could figure out Dupree's riddle.

Then he spotted something he hadn't seen before, a miniblin chest. Link went over to it and opened it. A pink light shot out of it, laughing with the sound of bells. "Oh my thank you… oh, and you are kind to fairies too. Let me heal your wounds." The fairy gave her power to him, bringing him back to full strength. Even his weariness from crossing the Lost Hills for the entire day vanished. "I do a good job, huh?"

He smiled and nodded, then spotted something else in the chest. Something like this was here? He pulled it out, a length of bamboo carved into an elegant form, with six holes and a tapered reed at the end. A recorder, for some reason in a chest in a haunted dungeon. Its form felt familiar to him. As he could not sing during town festivities (what festivities were allowed by Ganon), he had usually been handed a recorder so he could join in the music and joy of the time. He even knew a few songs by heart. And Dupree's riddle began taking a sensible form. Although, it was almost too hard to believe.

"Oh, you can take that," the fairy said. "It's not mine; the dog knight just shut me in there with it so he could use my powers. Hey, listen, I can teach you two nifty songs. They're magical. First, about the lost souls around us. Here is the Song of Healing, which will release them from their sorrows and pains, so that they may leave this world." She then sang a wordless tune, but quietly, in his ear.

He nodded, then put his fingers on the holes and blew. It had a nice tone. After fumbling for a bit, hitting wrong notes as he was not used to this song, he played the Song of Healing correctly. He then played it again, just to make sure; the fairy sang along.

And he felt a strange force, like all the chains holding everyone back were snapped apart. The souls murmured thanks to him, then faded away from the dungeon. When Link put the recorder down, all the statues had crumbled into dust and all the faces in the walls had vanished.

"There you go," the fairy said. "And don't worry about the rest of the dungeon; I can free them all and I will, just to get back at the so-called Master Digdogger. You just get to the end so that you can destroy that hideous menace once and for all. And the other song, the Wood Wind Melody: if you play it under the sky, the power of the woods and the power of the winds will come together and take you away magically to a place you have been before. Unfortunately, it's kind of hard for a human like you to control where the wood wind takes you. Here you go." She then sang the Wood Wind Melody until Link had it learned. Since he had agreed to seek out and destroy Digdogger, the fairy warped herself away to clear the other rooms of trapped and lost souls.

Link made his way back along the basement level tunnel and through the maze of rooms to eventually come back to the room with the three Dodongos. They were blocking his way forward and back out of the dungeon. Now that he knew for certain what to do, it was just a matter of keeping out of their charging paths and waiting on them to roar, giving him a chance to feed them a bomb. There was once he missed, but the smoke from the bomb stunned two of them, leaving them with their mouths open. Then it was much easier to force feed them a bomb and wait until they died. Oddly enough, when they were defeated, they crumbled into orange dust. One left behind twenty rupees, another left ten bombs.

While the last released a fairy. "Gah!" she screamed, her aura redder than most fairies. "That was so disgusting. Thanks for releasing me from that icky fate." She healed him and calmed down. "Oh wait, I sense my sister's power around… big sis, wait for me!" She took off into the walls, after her sister.

Slightly amused by that, Link moved on. He was no longer encountering faces on the walls, so the dungeon did not seem as disturbing as before. There were still tough enemies, including a room filled with Pols Voice, but he felt no trouble in continuing on. After a long trek, he came across one of the locked and labeled doors. Digdogger was here. Mentally preparing himself and pulling out the recorder, Link unlocked the door and entered the room.

And heard an ear-splitting claws-right-down-through-his-brain shriek.

No wonder the statues had their ears covered. Gritting his teeth, Link stood his ground and faced the master of this dungeon. He was faced back with a giant eye, as tall as he was. Its black iris had some strange movement to it, like a whirlpool of darkness seeking to suck him inside. It had a coating of skin, which closed in a blink every few seconds. Attached to the back, there were many thin red strings (blood vessels?) fluttering behind it. And surrounding it was a massive orb of fire, if fire had the same qualities and transparencies of water. The heat it was putting off was immense, enough to dry him out into a lifeless statue with his soul trapped inside to hear that shriek endlessly.

He couldn't waste time, then. He brought the recorder to his lips and blew a long mixed note.

There was an unearthly wailing in response to his note, but Link did not let himself falter. The orb of fire cracked and soon burst, evaporating like hellish steam. Soon, all that was left was a floating eye, crying out in a tone that was not nearly as loud or demonic as before. It was almost pitiful, begging him to not hurt it.

But it had shown no mercy to the many souls it had trapped in its dungeon. Link could not show this demon mercy. Keeping the recorder in his right shield hand, he took the white sword in his left and made a jumping attack at Digdogger. It split the eyeball in two, which made it evaporate into strange black smoke.

Although Link found his heart pounding, he was in a state of disbelief that that was it. After it had tormented so many with that highly powerful demonic voice, it fell only to a long note on a recorder and a single hit of his sword. But the demonic energy was gone and Digdogger was no more.

He still waited a few minutes, just in case some trick came. When it didn't, Link looked between the two doors. He chose the south one and immediately got locked into a room with a Wizzrobe. But just one. He changed the recorder for his boomerang to stun it and then sword-slash it as usual. The door unsealed and he went back into Digdogger's room.

There was something here now. The two fairy sisters were in the center of the room. "Oh, yay, you did it!" one of them said, coming over and flying circles around him. "Master Digdogger is gone and we can go back home!"

"It's wonderful," the other fairy said. "We can bring you out of the dungeon."

He raised his hand to tell them to wait a moment, then went into the northern door. The fairies decided to follow after him. As he thought, it was the altar room. However, there was nothing on altar itself. No Triforce. And when he thought about her, he couldn't get Zelda either.

"I sense fire where you're thinking of," one of the fairies (the younger one, perhaps) commented. "Not a wild fire, but more like the shop keeper's flames."

"Remember what the dog knight said?" the older one asked. "To claim a piece of Power, you should seek the dungeon on the edge of the graveyard and complete it. I believe that is true. But there's also a rumor about that place. If you manage to claim that piece of Power, you should then go into the graveyard itself to prove yourself. There is something of great power there that Ganon fears. Perhaps it will help you defeat him."

Link nodded, then gave a sign of gratitude. So it seemed he now had a path to follow, to the eastern graveyard.

"We're going home now, as all the souls that were trapped here are now free," one fairy said. "Come, we'll bring you out." Then a pink aura came around him, blocking his view. When it had cleared, they were back on the rocky plateau.

"Goodbye Mr. Hero!" one fairy said, and the two took off to the north.

He waved to them, then considered the sky. It was late. He set up his camp, but only had dried fruits and meat for dinner. Then he went to sleep.

* * *

 

When he awoke at dawn, Link had his breakfast, and the daily wake up fight, this time courtesy of a winged beast, a Peahat. Then he brought out the recorder and considered it. To teleport wherever he had been, but at random. He should at least try it. He thought of the Wind Wood Melody, then played it on the bamboo recorder.

Although this area was sparse with trees, a swirl of leaves rushed up around him, accompanied by a great wind. The world swirled and blurred in front of his eyes and he felt like the wind was picking him up off the ground. Then, after a momentary disorientation, he found things settling back down again, in a place that was the eastern entrance to the Lost Hills, a flat rocky plain with a group of Armos. But instead of being in two neat rows, like always, the Armos were activated, closing in on an old man and two young children. The little girl shrieked while the older boy and possibly their grandfather tried to fight off the beasts.

Link did not like fighting those Armos, but he disliked leaving others helpless worse. So he drew out his bow and began shooting the Armos. The old man seemed to be doing a decent job of keeping the kids from being hurt. Once he had all the Armos between him and the trio deactivated, he ran over, putting back his bow and drawing his sword instead.

The old man noticed the opening and waved to the children. "Go!" He then blocked one club from an Armos with his own.

Passing by the two retreating children, Link stabbed one Armos past its great shield as it tried to hit the old man. That left just two. Since they were both intent on the old man, he darted past one to its weak point and jump attacked it to knock it back inactive. The last decided that Link was probably the bigger threat, and the bigger bounty due to the Triforce. So it turned its shield to him and started aiming its mace for him. Link dodged while the old man took advantage of that and did as he had: go to the Armos' weak point and beat on it with his club. When the Armos turned, Link was able to finish it off.

"Grandpa!" the girl called out. They hadn't gone far, so she was soon hugging him. "That was scary." She cried.

"Man, you were awesome, guy," the boy said, coming back over.

"Yes, thank you, young man," the old man said, finally turning to him. He saw the Triforce of Courage and looked hesitant. Then he smiled. "Well, we're very grateful. Something awoke them while I was escorting these children to our new home. You, um… could you spare some time, kind sir?"

He nodded, wondering what was up.

"Our town recently incurred the wrath of Ganon," he told him. "It was burned in the middle of the night, for he deemed a recent festival for the goddesses to be out of line with his laws. Even so, we had enough able men that we were able to fight off the initial raiding party, then rescue almost everyone in town. We know of a place in the mountains where we can hide from Ganon, and even get to some farmable land that he can't reach. But many of us are injured. We're trying to get the women and children to the new location of our village, but these lands are tough to get through. Would you help us in guarding those who are escaping?"

It didn't take any thought. He nodded, touching the Triforce. With the blessings of two of the goddesses, there was no reason for him to deny such a request.

"Thank you. Well let's go so you know the way. Keep quiet, kids, and don't stray."

They went east to a very rocky area, where he'd heard that many caverns were hidden. They came to a portion of the wall that had a large boulder jutting out. To Link's surprise, he saw the old man put his hands on that stone, much taller and wider than he was, and push it aside as if it were nothing. The children just smiled, then went into the hidden valley passage. Link did so too and they waited on the old man to pull the rock back. They then walked down into the dropping pathway, into a mine that was lit by torches on the walls. Eventually, they came to a large cavern where a good number of people were already gathered.

Including some strange folks, tall and round beings that seemed to be made of the stones of the earth. Were these the Gorons that Josiah had mentioned? His thinking seemed to be right. Once the children ran off to their mother and siblings, the old man Albien brought him to one of the rock people. "Pardon me, but I must ask something of you. Noruna, this is Link, a wandering warrior who's agreed to help with moving the refugees here. Link, this is Noruna; she is the Chieftain of the Gorons of these mountains."

"Ah, well met, brave one," Noruna said. "Though, I hope you don't mean to bring Ganon's wrath on them again."

He shook his head. He just wanted to help.

"Would you give him one of your power bracelets as a payment up front? He's made no indications that he expects a reward, but you know that even with its magic, it's going to make me weary moving that door all day."

"Hmm… according to Goron lore, the only way one would be able to wear a piece of the Golden Power like that is if one were allowed to by the goddess. So he must have Farore's and Nayru's trust. Very well! I have one here." She turned around and took something off a high shelf, a leather bracelet studded with many steel rivets. "This is something special we give to miners that we like, friends of the Gorons. You may borrow it for today, and we will see if you truly deserve it by the end of it. If not, it'll just return to me by the power of the earth. It will give you strength like a Goron, able to move boulders you normally couldn't budge."

Taking the power bracelet, he bowed and gave a sign of thanks. Then he attached it to his right arm, under where his shield support was. He could feel and see its great power, and believed everything she said about it, even its return.

"We'd best get back to the refugees," Albien said. "We should be back again, Noruna."

"Take care, Albien, Link."

They left the Goron cave and went back up the valley passage. Albien let Link move the 'door' this time, making sure that it went right back in place to hide it from Ganon's forces. They walked past the plain where the Armos had formerly been, then ascended a pathway carved into the rising mountain. They were then greeted by the remains of the village.

There were still fires there, although much was now broken down to black bits of wood, rock, and clay, as well as lots of ashes. The smoke caused a haze of gray all over the area. It had once filled a level of the cliffs here, but it was now ruins.

"This was Kasuto," Albien said. "We worked the mines the Gorons were not in, but ever since Ganon took over, everything goes to him in exchange for foods, clothes, and other supplies. But he always ends up with the lion's share of everything. The survivors are in one of our mines."

He then got introduced to a group that was much larger than those already in the Goron tunnels. As he had said, many of the men were injured, coughing from the smoke, or asleep. Some of the older women were watching over the injured ones, giving them medicines to heal. More here were skeptical of accepting help from Link, but he indicated that he just wanted to help. It could have been his home village, after all, that had been destroyed for the flimsiest of reasons.

Since there were now two of them, Albien and Link were able to guard a larger group. All of the women with infants had already been moved, so the first group they took was two more women and six children. For the rest of the day, they worked without break, getting everyone to the Goron mines. Link kept his bow and sword at ready, often shooting down a sky bound spy before it alerted distant monsters to the move. Now that the Armos were inactive, it was mostly Tektites and the occasional Peahat that bothered them.

In the afternoon, they got to the point where they could start moving the injured men. They had four of the able bodied men help to carry or support the injured ones to the Goron mines. As the sun was setting, they helped the last of the group, one of the older healing women and two of the men who had been asleep, along with what few things in barrels that they had managed to salvage from the town of Kasuto.

Once all the survivors were reunited, there was much cheer and thanks, although these people still seemed weary and upset by the events of the previous night. They had put together a humble meal by combining what they had into a soup, which was shared with everyone, even him. The Gorons declined the soup, saying that they were fine without it. They were doing their best to keep the people of Kasuto in good spirits, enough to heal up here, then move on to their new more hidden village.

Noruna came and found him as he was eating by himself. "Link, you are truly a kind hero. We thank you for helping our neighbors. As it is, I will allow you to keep the power bracelet and stay here for tonight. I hope it helps you on your journey."

He nodded and smiled to her. Being indoors again was a relief.

"Also, one of the witches of Kasuto asked to see you. Find the woman in the purple dress; she will give you something good." She then went to speak with others.

Link finished off his soup, then returned the bowl to the women who were taking care of the dishes. Then he searched around until he found the old woman in the purple dress. Most of the village women wore yellow or red. Only she wore purple. It must have been a sign of a high position or a great rank.

She smiled when he caught her attention with a wave. "Ah, yes, Link, our silent hero. It's good to speak with you. Do you happen to have a bottle on you? I only have a few and I must keep them for now."

He nodded and brought out the empty one. The other one had some pure spring water that he had gotten from a trader.

The old woman pulled out her own bottle, which was much larger, more like a wine bottle. She poured some of what she had in there. "Don't worry, this is non-alcoholic. It is a medicinal potion, good for all kinds of things that trouble you. It works wonders, really, but only a certain level of witch can prepare it properly." She put the cork back in his bottle, then pulled out a little charm on a chain. It was of a sun figure, with a benevolent face. "And this is a sign to my fellow witches that you can be trusted. If you show this bottle and its charm to them, they will sell you more medicine. Good luck to you, Link. I hope you restore this land to what it was."

He smiled and gave a sign of gratitude, then took his bottle with its medicine back.


	7. Tests of Power

In the morning, he left the Goron mine early, being offered some bread and jam for his breakfast. He gratefully took it, but made sure to finish it before leaving the mines. He moved the rock door out of the way and replaced it, then killed off the gathered monsters so that they couldn't report this secret location. Then he pulled his recorder back out. Hoping that it wouldn't land him in another distraction, Link played the Wood Wind Melody.

This time, it placed him in the middle of a Peahat swarm on the north side of Lake Hylia. He ran out of it. Most Peahats weren't aggressive unless you were on their territory, and then the problem could be solved by simply running off it. Once he was out of their attention, he brought out his map and checked it.

There had been an area of Lake Hylia that he had been unable to reach. It lay across the river and behind a tall ridge of rocks on the north and eastern sides of the meadow near the Weaver's shop. According to his map, there was a pathway through the rocky hills that would lead him eventually to the western graveyard. He just had to cross the river. Link used his raft to do so and continued along the northern shore of Lake Hylia.

The path soon turned to a rough grade, sometimes steep enough to make him take careful steps, other times flat, or even plunging back down. Monsters stayed in the same numbers, being Peahats and Tektites which were in abundance, along with a few Octoroks that could crawl on the rough pathway. He found it harder to fight them, as a misstep could easily lead to him sliding on loose rocks or stumbling and getting scraped. Thankfully, a lucky encounter with a captive fairy allowed those wounds to be healed up before they got nasty.

But his other option had been to go through the Lost Woods, where Koume and Kotake might have been.

He camped in one abandoned mine, after making sure it really was abandoned. Then he checked his map to figure out where he was and what turns he needed to take on this twisting path. In the morning, he moved on.

About noon, he came across a long plateau which was remarkable for the number of Armos there. It was like an army, he thought, waiting for the call to battle. Ganon's reserve army? Link did his best to stay away from the Armos, moving slowly and watching them all the while. Disturbing one might disturb the rest in a terrifying wave. He was glad to find the descending path which led away from the silent battalion.

But at the end of that long narrow descent, he came upon another faction of Armos. But these ones, they were different. Link approached them carefully, curious about the difference. These Armos were white, with the large wrap around shields and various weapons. But these Armos were not marked by Ganon's signature mark. These were marked with three golden triangles, representing the three parts of the Triforce.

Standing there on the ashen gray ground, Link strangely felt no caution around these ones. These may have been made to represent old Hylian heroes or soldiers, the ones loyal to the true Kings. He bowed to the twelve of them, then moved on.

In the mid-afternoon, Link arrived at the graveyard. It was there, covered in ghostly gray-green grasses and filled with large white tombstones. But he had seen a path in the side of the road that seemed to lead upward onto the nearby plateau. That place sat on a cliff that hung over the graveyard. He might be able to see better up there, even find a place where the dungeon was. So he turned back and ascended the steep path.

And the dungeon turned out to be right there on the cliff. Looking at it, Link could tell that this was a place to test one's power as well as courage. Its gateway was formed of local stones, but carved into a menacing monster figure, with observing eyes and pointed teeth. Flanking it were more of those White Armos, marked with the Triforce. But up here, there weren't many monsters to bother him. Also, if this place was as tough as said, then he wanted to go in at his full capacity, not after spending most of the day traveling to get here. So he went up to behind the gateway and set up a campsite there. He took some time to hunt down something for his meal. Monsters usually weren't safe fare (besides, some of them were Lynels). But on searching around, he came across a group of wild pigs.

He considered luring one away with the monster bait, but reconsidered as that might draw the attention of Lynels too. So he brought out some raisins instead. Sure enough, one separated from the group and came to eat the raisins. Link used an arrow to kill it. It lasted long enough to squeal and alarm the others, but that just made them run. He finished it off with his sword.

A good amount of time after that he spent in figuring out how to skin and cut it up. He'd handled other small game, but the pig had tough skin. He had a feeling that he had wasted some of it, but did what he could. Using the pig fat to cook the meat, he gathered what might be inedible (he wasn't sure) and threw it off the cliff into the small gathering of trees that he had caught it in. Surely there was some predator which would take care of that, or a monster. Then he ate his meal; it wasn't great, but good enough and a nice change.

After washing off his hands in a nearby creek coming off an even higher plateau, Link spent some time playing the recorder before going to sleep.

* * *

 

Link had been attacked in the very first room. That was new, even if it was just a Keese. That set a high precedent for this dungeon and the monsters did not disappoint. In the next room, he came across larger versions of Pols Voice, rabbit-ish blue humanioids who hopped, yet turned into red Keese when struck. In the next room, he spotted a Likelike across an acid water barrier, with Gels, Stalfos, and another new enemy, human skulls surrounded by a cursed aura and bearing glowing red eyes. And the other door was sealed. The skulls flew around fairly aimlessly, but a brush with them once left his left arm numb for a full minute. He'd had to scramble across the raft and pull it back up with his right in order to avoid the slimy gelatinous blob that was the Likelike.

In the next room, he came across a peculiar scene. It was a room of black tiles, with two of the firepots that merchants tended to use. But there wasn't a merchant in this room. Instead, there was a Moblin. An old Moblin, it seemed, for its orange skin was wrinkled and there were many scars across its body. And it was playing a recorder, much like the one Link had.

And playing quite well, which surprised Link. He saw the hazel eyes of the creature glance at him, but it did not bother its playing. Since it seemed to have no animosity, Link pulled out his own recorder and tried playing along. The song seemed familiar, like one that was played at festivals. If it wasn't, then the Moblin was good natured about it and changed to his song.

After a bit, the monster put his instrument down. So did Link. The old Moblin looked to him again, then strangely enough spoke in a rough deep voice. "It is a secret to everyone."

Link nodded.

"Lord Ganon used to grant all of us intelligence, even just some," the Moblin explained. "But intelligence breeds disloyalty, so says he. The new ones, not intelligent. Less than beasts. I hide, so I am not destroyed. But I disloyal for his actions, perceived by my intelligence. You come seeking the piece of Power that he cannot hold?"

He nodded again.

"Let me teach you a new song. Some lands have spells on them, keeping them unnatural. This song, the Unraveled Tune, will pull apart such spells, letting the truth be known, and letting nature come back." He then played the Unraveled Tune, an odd mix of notes that sounded like a bird's call.

That seemed rather difficult, so Link came closer and watched the Moblin's fingers carefully. Then he tried it himself. It took four tries, but he got it.

The old Moblin nodded. "There are secrets where fairies do not live. Play Unraveled Tune there. If you have the right place, the path to another piece of Power will lay opened for you. Now, leave me at peace. I have no want of battle or power. Just music."

Bowing, Link smiled at the friendly monster, then left him to his music. It started up almost as soon as he went through the door.

Since that was a dead end, Link retraced his steps to the entrance and went through the other door. He was nearly nailed by a Wizzrobe as he did so, having to pull the door back in order to avoid its magic wave attack. That old Moblin might be the only thing that gave him an easy time.

And that was proven when he went through one door and heard an unholy shriek that burned through his ears. There was another giant flame-surrounded Digdogger threatening to turn him to stone. Quickly, Link played the recorder to get it down to its eyeball form and then defeated it. He didn't see any tormented statues in this room. Had no one gotten this far into the dungeon? Or was it a new resident, called in to block his passage?

After a room with Stalfos, Wizzrobes, and skull bubbles, Link found himself being roared at in three tones. He peered around the door and saw a giant dragon Gleeok, only this one had three necks and three heads. But he was so far in that this wasn't the time to turn around. Since the door did not forcibly seal, he pulled out his bow and arrows, then shot at the Gleeok, pulling the door in front of him when an attack came. It lasted until the dragon threw a piece of rubble into the door, breaking it apart. Link rushed out and headed to behind a pillar, brought out a bomb, then threw that at the dragon. Two of its heads detached, beginning to fly around and toss chaotic electric balls everywhere. Link then got his bow out again, looked to a spot where the bomb had badly damaged it, then shot an arrow right for that wound. The Gleeok was killed in a bloody splatter.

Fortunately, he wasn't right up there next to it to get doused again. He heard something coming up from the room he had just left, either to investigate the scent of blood or the death screams. Link hurried to the next room.

Further in the dungeon, he ran into another three Dodongos, and also a pair of fire snakes. The fire snakes gave off bizarre twanging noises, something Link couldn't really explain. Fortunately, their biggest challenge was the sheer size of the things, fifteen feet long. Their bite and flare attacks were relatively easy to dodge. One surprised him by going straight through a concrete block, though.

Link was starting to feel the effects of fatigue. His body felt heavy, his skin was sweating hard, and he strongly wished to find a safe place to sleep. But he was in a dungeon; it would be hard to find a place to sleep aside from the altar room, as even the entrance wasn't safe here. And he didn't want to accidentally betray the old Moblin either (who was quite far away in the beginning of the dungeon too). So he pressed on, starting to avoid fights if he could manage.

The first fight that wouldn't be avoided was a quartet of Wizzrobes, who kept teleporting and spamming spells. Link kept moving (although he tripped once) and used the boomerang and sword combo that usually took them down. Once he cut them down, a miniblin chest appeared. But the doors did not unseal.

After waiting a moment, he decided to take advantage of the unexpected respite to sit down by the chest and catch his breath. He pulled out a special treat from his bag that he'd picked up from a store a while ago, a sealed bag of honey coated nuts. That and the bottle of spring water might revive his energy, enough to keep moving to the end of the dungeon. Once he was done with his snack and break, he opened up the miniblin chest.

Inside, there was a stone rod, about the size of his hand. At first, he was disappointed. But when he picked it up, it grew to be about a yard long. It was mostly white and cylindrical, but the top of it had a red globe, perhaps glass, perhaps something else, with a wide support around it so that it did not come off. He thought about it and wondered if this were a magician's rod. Witches did not work with things like this, but stories told of wizards and magicians who did. If he knew magic, this might be useful.

But he didn't. It might be useful to exchange for a better tool, or even hang onto until he could learn magic. One never knew. Link shrank it back up and stuck it in his depth bag. Opening the chest had not opened up the doors, though. Looking around, he spotted one of the large stone blocks that seemed to be in a groove in the floor. It was near a tile that looked different. When Link stood on the tile, the doors unsealed. But as soon as he stepped off, they resealed.

Pulling the block over the tile led the door to permanently unseal. Link went on his way. And in the next room, he came across a labeled door. This one stated that its occupant was 'Gohma'. Link knew nothing about it, but unlocked the door and entered it anyhow.

The monster lord that reigned here was something of a sand crab, something of a spider, and way bigger than either of them had the right to be. It bore a large eye with an eyelid that was more like Armos shield armor than skin. It scuttled sideways and patrolled the room, shooting water balls at him like the Zolas did. And when he started attacking, so did two tall gargoyles in the back of the room which spat fireballs. This did not look good.

Link tried to come up and stab Gohma in the eye when it started to open its lid, but it protected itself immediately. And his sword had no effect on its legs. He tried a bomb, which stunned it, but caused it to keep its eye shut tight. Link drew back to avoid fire from the gargoyles and assess the situation. He really doubted the boomerang would do anything; it only ever killed Keese. He knew no magic to use the rod. But the bow, that could do something. He brought out an arrow and put it on the bow, but did not pull the string back.

Gohma recovered, getting back to its feet. It spewed out a wave of water, which Link had to hide behind his shield to avoid. Then, after he'd not made much sound, it opened up its eye to find out where he was. Link used that opportunity to shoot it in the eye.

The crab spider monster wailed as its eye was ripped apart. This destroyed its other soft innards and killed it, soon reducing it to just gore in its shell. Link was used to hunting crabs for food, so seeing this struck him as something of a waste. That is, if anyone would want to eat the Gohma. And considering all that he'd run across in this dungeon, he felt that there were probably more like it out there.

Passing through the door Gohma had been pacing in front of brought him to the altar room. He was about willing to just camp here, but he went up to the altar to see what was here. At last, he found another golden fragment of the Triforce, but one that could not possibly be the last piece of Wisdom or Courage. Link picked it up and watched as it glowed, then sought out its other fragments. Again, they were too far away to show up well.

But he had one more fragment. Clasping the piece of Power in his hands, he put it near his chest and closed his eyes. He wanted to make contact with Zelda again, even if just in telepathy. Just to be sure that she was still alive.

And something came to him, little more than a whisper. "I am alive… I am not sure what is going on. Near you, Link, in the graveyard. Find the tombstone of the Paladin and search what lies underneath. Then… the last piece of Wisdom is across a river. Another piece of Power is hidden within the thickest part of the eastern forests, if you go off the path. The other piece of Power not held by Ganon, you have learned of the way. All are where fairies do not dwell and hesitate to go. Ask them if you need further guidance. I am not sure I can reach you again. I wanted to hear from you and you wanted to hear from me. But my mind grows weary, as your body has. We should rest, both of us."

And then Zelda's presence was gone.

Link was glad to agree with that.

* * *

 

On waking and eating some breakfast, Link left the dungeon and headed for the graveyard. The tomb of the Paladin… there were a large number of tombstones in his view, all identical, bearing crosses and or signs of the Triforce. The bottom of the stones would say who was buried there. Knights, advisers, wizards, witches, kings, queens, lords, even children. And then, up in the northeast portion of the graveyard, there was one tombstone marked 'Sir Nathanial Greeves, a hero and paladin, the greatest and most loyal warrior under King Nohan Hyrule IV'.

This seemed to be the only tombstone with the word 'paladin' on it. But it was also someone's grave. Link bowed his head and gave a silent prayer, asking for this Sir Nathanial to forgive him for disturbing his grave. When he was done, he noticed that the tombstone was on hidden rails. So it was meant to be moved. With the power of the Goron's bracelet, Link pushed the tombstone back and revealed a hole with a ladder.

He descended the ladder, but found a white light was at the end. After a short climb, he was in a single chamber that had an elaborate stone tomb decorated with angelic warriors. On the top, there was engraved text. 'Swordsman, if you have the power and confidence, move the lid to this sarcophagus and claim the divine sword within. The unworthy will be burned and thrown aside. Only one worthy of being a paladin can take hold of the Master Sword.'

A paladin? Link wasn't certain for a moment. He was from a fishing village, far from nobility. But, if it was anything but blood, he had the word of Zelda that he might be able to take it. He put his fingers under the decorative carvings, then lifted up and pushed aside. The rock lid came off easily. Inside, there was a sword made of white metal. But unlike the White Blade he had gotten from Josiah, this one had a longer and more slender blade. It had a blue handle with a red gem set in the center. The cross piece was shaped like a pair of wings. And it had a potent feeling of magic, unlike the normal elements of enchanted items. This sword, he could believe it had been touched by the goddesses.

Link reached in and saw the magical guards on the sword. But they fell away to his hand, approving of him. He took hold of the handle and pulled the Master Sword out of the coffin. He noticed that the blade had a faint white glow. In the dark dungeons, the monsters would definitely see him. But with this in hand, he would be more prepared to face them.

So, he was looking for a place where fairies did not live. The logical thing would be to ask a fairy. He used his teleport song to go around randomly until he found himself outside the Weaver's shop on the west side of Hylia. However, there was a crate in front of it, with a sign that said they were closed for today. No trouble, as he would have just sold the magic rod. Instead, he headed west into the forest, to find the fairy's pond.

As soon as he saw the clear blue pond, he knew that she had been hard at work restoring it. There were lots more flowers now, more vibrant and fragrant. There were some new berry bushes too; those and the rich grasses attracted all sorts of animals, even a small group of deer. The animals looked to him warily, but he wouldn't hunt near a fairy's pond. Instead, he went over to the water's edge and sat down.

Moments later, the pink haired fairy appeared. "Oh, good morning Link!" she said cheerfully, then laughed. "You look much much better now. And... hey, that sword at your side… is it really the Master Sword?"

He nodded, drawing it out so she could see.

"Magnificent," she said in awe. "With that, you stand a much better chance against that pig tyrant. Oh, this is so delightful!" She twirled around in mid air. "I hope we all get to see Hyrule back in its natural state soon."

He was working towards that. Then he gave her a questioning look, thinking through his problem.

She looked to him, listening on a deep level. "Hmm, so you're looking for a place where we will not live, that can be affected by a song to undo enchantments, because that's where the next piece of Power lays. I've been held captive for a long time… oh, but you know one place that gives me the creepy crawlies? I mean, aside from the hag's place in the Lost Woods. There's a pond not that far from mine, off that way." She pointed to the west. "And it absolutely reeks of Moblins. I know there's a lot of those pigs around here, but that pond is just awful. I bet there's a dungeon near there, hidden somehow. I'd check that place out if I were you. But since I'm me, sorry, but no way."

He nodded and gave her a sign of thanks, then waved goodbye.

"Bye Link, and good luck!" she called out.

He walked west through the woods. One time, he spotted a well-defined and used path and nearly headed for it. But then he saw a group of blue and green mobins. They were all wielding massive metal based weapons, including one rather scrawny one (compared to the rest) that was holding onto a spear bow. This bow was massive, standing six feet tall; it magically summoned giant spears to shoot for arrows. Link had seen other monsters impaled with such spears and did not desire to get hit by one of those. It was likely instantly fatal. So he avoided the main path until he approached the lake.

As he stepped into the clearing, Link wrinkled his nose. This place did smell strongly of Moblin, even though there was none in sight. Unlike the fairy pond, this place was devoid of life. No birds sang, no animals dared approach the water. It looked clear and pristine, but the fact that it smelled so badly was a strong hint that something was not as it seemed.

Link brought out the recorder and played the Unraveling Tune.

As short as it was, the effect was immediate. The water vanished. All the nearby grasses turned brown and all trees near the pond were revealed to be shriveled and black. Although the pond had seemed deep, it turned out to only be a small depression, which included a perfectly dry surface leading down into an underground dungeon. And the smell momentarily got stronger.

But he wasn't going to let something like that deter him. He pulled out the piece of Power that he had. And indeed, it was starting to show a directional line downward. He put it back, then descended into the dungeon.

The first thing that he noticed about the entrance room was that the Moblin smell was stronger, but his nose was starting to get used to it. The second thing that he noticed was that by the one door on the east wall, there was a Moblin sitting against it. It was equipped with a long spear with long trailing red ribbons off the spear head.

Its reaction to him was underwhelming. It looked up to him, but did not pick up its spear. Instead, it looked down and grumbled unintelligibly. A weird growl came from it.

Link walked up to it, cautious at first, but then he saw that this particular Moblin was suffering for some reason. It had a lot of scars on its body, as if its fellows had beat it up. And it wasn't nearly as bulky as its peers. This one was starting to show some bones under its skin. The young man wondered what this particular Moblin had done to earn such poor treatment. Normally, Ganon's monsters were kept pretty well fed and strong.

Mostly he fought the monsters, but this one caused some sympathy. It was some kind of outcast, like the recorder playing Moblin. And this was probably one of the new 'dumb' ones. Recalling that he had something that Moblins were said to love, he reached into his depth bag and pulled out the monster bait.

The Moblin looked up, ears twitching and snout sniffing. Link unwrapped it; it smelled strongly of red meat and blood, like that pig he had attempted to cook the other night. Not wanting to get that scent on his hands, he handed it to the Moblin by holding onto the wrapper.

It widened its eyes, as if stunned by the kindness. It took the bait and eagerly put the hard candy-like food in its mouth. At that moment, it looked so blissfully content that Link had to smile. But the bait seemed to revive the monster's energy and it got up. Link took a step back, uncertain of what it would do.

Bringing up its hands, the Moblin looked at a ring that was there, as if uncertain. Then he decided and pulled it off. He then offered it to Link in exchange for the food, holding its hands out as if to give a gesture of reassurance that it was not tricking or threatening. It was just one gift in exchange for another.

Link nodded and took the ring. It was a strange piece, with a thin silver band and a setting around a pearl-like blue stone. The stone was a particular shape, like one half of a traditional yin yang. A tiny red stone was in the center of the large part of this yin (or yang). And it had an enchantment over it, one that would increase the defense of the one who was wearing it. Was this why the others had beat up and mistreated this one, because he had an enchanted ring that let him take it?

The Moblin grunted, then pointed to Link's left hand, indicating that the ring should go on his center finger. Link slipped the ring on there, putting it on so that the other half of the yin yang could be placed next to it. The monster approved of that, then picked up his spear. It saluted, then went off to the exit. Maybe to hunt for some food now that it had the strength to do so.

Good things came unexpectedly, Link thought. If this dungeon was anything like the last one, this ring would be a great help. He went through the door and nearly ran straight into a mass spell sent to him by five teleporting Wizzrobes. Although, one arrow later proved that it was actually just one Wizzrobe, using illusionary copies.

But past that initial Wizzrobe room, Link started running into mobs of Moblins. Most of them were boomerang wielders, but some had the fancy spears like the hungry one, while others had swords or maces. And a lot of rooms had fire spewing gargoyles, like those that had been in Gohma's room in the last dungeon. This often led to chaotic fights where Link would have found it easier to just skip the rooms. But all too many doors would seal on him until he defeated every monster inside. The smell of Moblins was bad enough, but add their blood to the mix… at least their bodies were warped away. Link would hate to think what this place would look like if that didn't happen.

In one narrow hallway, he managed to disturb a mass of Keese. The Moblins wouldn't be able to fight well here, but the Keese could still swarm him, shrieking and batting their wings, trying to bite him. Link put his shield over his head and swung his sword around the best he could, a difficult task when he couldn't even spread his arms out without hitting both walls. But after one stroke, most of them vanished, leaving just one body to fall to the ground. It vanished, leaving being a blue rupee. So even the Keese here could use magic?

He had just extricated himself from the Keese hall when he was met with the unholy shriek of a Digdogger. Again? He dispatched it, checked for any strange statues. There were two, so he played the Song of Healing for the trapped souls. They turned out, strangely enough, to be another pair of Moblins. Apparently Digdoggers were really fussy about their territory, even if it was just a single room. However, this pair tried to attack him and had to be defeated.

In the room past the Digdogger, there was a pair of fire snakes. In the room past that, there was a mass of Stalfos, three Likelikes, and three bubble skulls. And the door sealed on him until he got all but the skulls. Not only that, but it turned out to be a dead end. Link felt like the dungeon was mocking him.

He backtracked, finding some rooms had been filled with Moblins again… or that crazy magic Keese. And the doors were still sealing him in. Even so, he found the ring helping boost his energy, staving away fatigue longer. It also helped that whenever he got a decent break, he paused a few minutes and ate some of his dried foods. After feeling the effects of hunger on long dungeon treks, and seeing that Moblin in the first room, he wasn't going to chance that this time.

Stumbling his way through this confusing dungeon, he came across another room of three Dodongos. He took care of them, freeing a fairy in the process as well as getting more rupees and bombs. Bombs seemed plentiful in this place, although he often had to leave some behind as he simply had no space for them. But as it took six bombs to kill all the Dodongos, he was now short supplied again. He went through the next door and got shrieked at by a Digdogger.

But this one was different. Link knew this when he saw that there were three eyes floating round in the orb of fire. And there were even more statues in this room, four spitting fire. Trying to ignore all that, he used the recorder. The three eyes separated; they weren't harder like this, only in numbers and the fire spewing statues.

After freeing the souls of the trapped monsters (and getting hit by two fireballs in the process), Link pressed on. Fighting more Moblins and eventually… coming to a shop.

This puzzled him until he recognized the energy barrier around the shopkeeper. This was another unfortunate stuck in a sealing trap. This shield did not block off the two doors in the room, but Link decided to see what the fellow had if it would help free him.

It was a middle-aged man with a long beard. The Moblins seemed to have helped him set up, giving him a cot to sleep on, a water pool, a counter, a chair, even food and beer. He shopkeeper straightened up on seeing Link approach. When he spoke, his breath smelled strongly of alcohol. "Ah, hic, a cushtomer. It'sh been years shinch I hash a human, though… Whaddya what?"

Unlike Mr. Weaver, this person's shop trap had many items for sale. Link didn't think he could buy him out. But he could buy some extra food things and a refill of clean water. There was an awful lot of monster bait and other foods that monsters would like, but there were, oddly enough, some human foods in good conditions.

"The Moblinsh like thesh ash tretsh, or something," the shopkeeper said, passing over the packets of dried fruits, roasted nuts, and edible seeds. "Oh, an' can I intresht you n shome upgradesh? I, uh… I can do bom bagsh and magic candlesh. Don't worry, I can do the magic shtuffsh even when sober." He laughed.

He wondered for a bit if that was really safe. Then again, this man might need more sales to pay off his punishment. So Link nodded and brought out his bomb bag and blue candle.

"Ah, you well prepared than? Hah! Lessee…" he picked up the bomb bag, then did the same kind of spell that Dupree had. And it worked, increasing the bag's capacity and refilling it. "There, I still gotsh it. Now you can hold, erm, sixteen bombsh. And that'll be a hundred rupees, and shixty for the candle."

Link nodded and handed over the payment for those. The shopkeeper put them in a magic cup, which promptly vanished.

Then the drunken shopkeeper took the candle and muttered more spell words. Blue flames enveloped the candle entirely, turning to violet, and then red. It soon settled down and went out. "And there'sh your blue candle, now a red candle. Thish little beauty can be ushed indefinitely, under any conditions. Well, except underwater. You can light it in the rain, but to do it under water, you hash to find ssomebody who can make it shtay purple."

Link nodded and took the candle back. When he did, the barrier around the shop vanished. He smiled. Good, so he had freed the shop keeper.

But, the guy looked around. "Huh, whaddya know? All well, ish not like I care anymore. I do good biushnessh with the Moblinsh and I keep well shupplied. I think I'll shtay here. But thanksh, lad. Knowing I could choosh to leave ish a weight off my shouldersh."

Link didn't quite understand him on that. But then, he wasn't sure, even seeing how some monsters could be good, that he'd want to live in a dungeon that was crammed full of Moblins. He waved, then moved on through the dungeon.


	8. Evil Magic

The dungeon wore on. More Likelikes, a few more Wizzrobes, even more Moblins, another three eyed Digdogger, another three Dodongos, and still no clear sign of an end. The dungeon was clearly mocking him and any who dared traverse it.

Then he found one room that had a large amount of square blocks, all arranged in a U shape. One at the far end was in a groove with another pressure plate. As soon as he stepped on it, he heard something open up behind the stone blocks. But they were too high for him to tell what. So he pulled the block back and went to investigate. Two skull bubbles rushed at him, one managing to inflict its curse on him. Knowing that the curse would wear off, he pressed on.

But in his path, a giant hand grew out of the wall. It had a single eye in its palm. And a strange pattern of magic appeared on the walls near it. Somehow, Link knew that these hands were bad news.

He backed off, but one of the skull bubbles flew too close to the hand. It grabbed the skull without being afflicted by its curse and dragged it into the wall. The spot of magic vanished, taking the hand and skull bubble with it. This time, Link waited for the curse to wear off and then approached the wall again.

The hand appeared once again. Link brought out his sword, but quickly had to back up as it kept approaching, flexing its fingers like it was preparing to grab him. Link attacked several times, but even with the Master Sword, the hand took several more hits before dying, turning to dust and black smoke. Link felt relieved, but then noticed that another hand had emerged from the wall behind him. A third magic portal (if that's what it was) was appearing in the corner.

There was bravery and then there was stupidity, Link thought as he rushed past the emerging hand and kept going down the narrow passage. These hands were likely not worth the effort unless he knew that he could eventually kill them all. He nearly ran into another emerging hand in his path, but he swiped his sword at it as he went by. There was an open staircase right in the corner of the room; he ran down the stairs and into an underground tunnel.

He paused at the bottom of the stairs to catch his breath. The hands did not pursue him down the stairs. Nor did there seem to be any in this tunnel. Just Keese as usual. Link took care of them with his boomerang, then traversed the long passage.

He emerged into a room filled with red and blue Moblins. The door and staircase both sealed shut when he entered the room. Of course. He took care of the monsters and went through the door

In that room, he found another Aquamentus. At least the lights were on in this room, allowing him to deal with it easier. But right as he drew the Master Sword, a bolt of lightning came from the ceiling, killing Aquamentus on the spot. Tensing, Link looked around for the source of that magic. It was up on top of the tall ledges in the room. A pair of strange hags, one dressed in white with blue hair and one dressed in black with red hair. Koume and Kotake.

"Hah, we've found you at last, boy!" Koume shouted triumphantly.

But Kotake screeched. "Eeek, isn't that the Master Sword that he has in hand? How could such a lowly peasant earn the right to wield that blade? He's just a fisherman."

"How do you figure that?" Koume asked.

"His clothes," her sister said. "They're, um… they're popular along the southern shore. The point is, he shouldn't have that infernal holy weapon."

"But he does," Koume said. "And it seems that he's picked up more fragments of the Triforce while we've been on this wild goose chase. Well no matter. We'll just slay you in the name of our Lord and King, Ganon!"

"Too true," Kotake said darkly. "Besides, leaving an Aquamentus at the end of this dungeon full of those dirty heathen Moblins? That is so weak. So you can face over a hundred Moblins… how about a mob of Lynels instead?" The two sisters cackled and summoned up two orange Lynels. The two centaur beasts roared and threw their magical blades at him.

Link ran for behind a pillar. A mass of Lynels was not what he wanted to face, especially in such close quarters where it was harder to avoid their thrown swords. And those witches could just summon up more.

He heard the two Lynels rushing up on either side of the pillar. Link gripped his sword, then rolled under the feet of the one to his right, slashing at its ankles as he went by. With a jump back onto his feet, he finished it off. Next, he pulled his bow out and shot at the other Lynel, causing it to stumble before throwing its blades. Then Link took another arrow out as quickly as he could and shot Koume with it.

Initially, he thought he might be off with the aim since he had to hold the bow and sword in one hand, but it struck her, causing a shriek. "Koume!" Kotake called, then hastily summoned up an orange, a blue, and a black Lynel before floating over to check on her.

Link dodged the volley of swords from the new Lynels, but the injured one behind him wasn't so lucky; it died of the friendly fire. With another down, he retreated to behind the other pillar, to put his sword away. He then ran for the other pillar, firing an arrow as he went by. It didn't seem to hit anything, but it did cause the blue Lynel to stop suddenly, making the orange one run into it. With violent thoughtlessness, the two roared at each other and began fighting.

He switched back to his sword. But, the time he took doing that allowed the black Lynel to charge by the pillar and turn to face him. Link blocked the first sword strike with his shield, then stabbed the Lynel in the torso. For that, he got cut in the arm and nearly had his foot stepped on. He managed to pull back before the full weight of the beast was pressed down; that would have surely crushed his foot. He blocked the next double sword hit by using his shield and sword, but that gave him no room to counterattack.

Fortunately, the blue Lynel had killed the orange one; it threw its swords at the black one and Link. The young man ducked out of one, but the other struck the black Lynel in the back. Screaming furiously, the black turned its torso and flung a sword at the blue Lynel, killing it. In doing so, he gave Link the time he needed to make a killing blow of his own, slashing across the beast's chest and forcing it to collapse. It was warped away too.

"Don't think you've won yet!" Kotake screamed, then appeared on the floor with him. Her hair and dress erupted into red flames, and her eyes turned ugly red. "I will incinerate you for what you've done to my sister!" She put her hands together and muttered a spell which launched a wide stream of fire at him. Link blocked it with his shield, but the intense heat seemed like it might burn him anyways.

Once the spell was done, she seemed winded. Link went up to attack her, but his sword went right through her body, like it was made of flames. Kotake began to cackle. But then, a stray ice ball appeared and abruptly froze a large potion of the floor, raising sharp ice spikes underneath her. Kotake screamed in agony, her flames flickering down and showing flesh again.

"Eek, I didn't mean that!" Koume cried. "I was just trying to help."

"Help a little less," Kotake grouched. But then her eyes widened as Link swung his sword at her again. These women were clearly not human, Link knew. They were on Ganon's side, so they might be demons, or even monstrous beasts like the Moblins and Lynels.

So he killed Kotake. Her black dress collapsed onto the floor, acrid smoke rising from it. There was a strange thin wail as a vapor form of Kotake appeared. Before long, it morphed into a scream of fear as a black hand, much like the blue ones he had faced, grabbed hold of her soul. "The price for thy power is now paid, Kotake," a menacing voice said, before the hand vanished with her through its portal.

Koume wailed, then jumped to the floor, forming her body into ice and snow. The arrow was still stuck in her side. "Then I will have to kill you! My life matters not when she is gone, so if I must die to defeat you, then I will." She clapped her hands and summoned a dozen pale blue and white Octorocks, who fired snowballs and spiked ice balls everywhere. Then she launched an ice spell much like her sister's fire stream.

Link blocked that with his shield, feeling as though he might get frostbite. But an idea came to him. Might the same thing that killed Kotake work on Koume in reverse? He pulled out his new red candle, then put it in his shield hand. It activated despite the cold. Once Koume ended her spell, Link dashed over and set the flame to Koume's snowy hair.

And it rapidly engulfed her in flames despite her being made of ice. She screamed, but Link wasn't going to leave it to chance. He stabbed her as well.

The same thing happened as her white clothes dropped to the floor, leaving melting snow. The strange black hand appeared and said, "The price for thy power is now paid, Koume," and vanished with her.

But, there were still the snow Octorocks. Link exchanged the candle for the bow to more quickly eliminate them. Finally, the room was empty, save for the ruined black and white dresses of the witches. And even those were beginning to unravel. Ganon was trying to keep anything from getting to his enemies.

A red sparkle suddenly appeared around Link. At first he tensed in concern, but then felt that this was a benevolent power. It drew him to the door that Aquamentus had been guarding. He had to go to the next room.

In there, there was another altar room. Link climbed up and found another golden fragment lying there. He brought out the piece of Power and reconnected it with this new piece. Once he reunited them, the red sparkle turned into a strong glow. "Link, ye strong one, you have proven your worth to the Triforce of Power. Receive then the blessings of I, Din, which shall allow you to cast spells without the use of the spoken word. May you find what it is that you seek." Then it faded, revitalizing his energy as it went and adding the half of the Triforce of Power to his necklace.

Now he had the blessings of all three goddesses. Link smiled, bowing his head to thank them. If he completed the Triforce of Wisdom or Courage, and got the last piece he could of Power, then he should be ready to face Ganon.

The end of his travels seemed to be in sight. It was greatly encouraging.

* * *

 

Aside from the first piece of Wisdom, Link had not been in the eastern forests much. He spent a couple of days exploring now, finding a few shops, a few hidden homes. But the poor folk who were hiding here couldn't understand him and were reluctant to help. The shopkeepers rarely left their shops, depending on traveling traders to increase stock. They all agreed that the woods were dangerous, but disagreed which part were most.

Link found a small lake patrolled by many monsters, but the Unraveled Tune did nothing there. And there seemed to be no dungeon; even the pieces of Power were not reacting much. He explored northward a bit. Towards evening, he located a fairy pond.

A blue haired fairy emerged. "What do you want?" she asked in an annoyed tone. But then she chimed and floated closer. When she next spoke, it was with more respect. "Oh, you're a friend to fairies, and a hero of the goddesses? I'm so sorry. I've just had these people continually bug me, like bombing my pond and throwing things in it. I'm not that kind of fairy! It's all because Ganon Pighead has offered rewards to those who can hand over us fairies to the monsters. I've had to resort to cursing people to get left alone."

Link nodded. He couldn't blame her for being angry at first. He thought over some things he wanted.

"Hmm?" She listened. "Oh well, yes, you may camp here. It's no big deal to me. And, you're looking for a dungeon where us fairies dislike going. In the thickest part of the forest, off the path… oh, I know the place! Um, you have a map, right? Let me see it."

He nodded, then brought it out. She flew over and looked at the area, eventually pointing out a section of the southeast part of the forest.

"Down here... you'll know it as this hideous monster tree. Wizzrobes sometimes appear from there, especially in the winter when the dragon roams. I don't know how they get in or out, but if I were you, I'd burn that nasty tree right up. It makes this whole forest look bad. And burning it would improve things for everybody."

He nodded and gave her a sign of thanks. For his stay, he played the recorder for her (she seemed happy to accept that as payment for the safe camping spot). Then he had a small supper and set up camp.

After buying some more food, supplies, and water from a nearby shop, Link went to the southeastern part of the woods and searched for a monster tree in the thickest parts. And these parts were thick, almost worse than the Lost Woods. There were long winding pathways that opened into small meadows, with paths that could deceive in which direction they were heading. To make things worse, it had decided to start raining, with thunder booming to the west. Hopefully the red candle upgrade would start a fire that would go.

And then a black leaf flew by on the wind. Link snatched it out of the air, looking closer at its magic aura. It was infused with some of the gaseous energy that made up the Wizzrobes. The leaf by itself was not dangerous, but it proved the presence of Wizzrobes. He looked in the direction the wind was blowing from.

Just in time too, for he caught sight of a Wizzrobe casting a spell. He brought his shield up to deflect it, but then had a thought. Swing the sword at it, from here. Puzzled but thinking it was worth a shot, Link drew the Master Sword and swung at thin air.

A beam of energy much like the white blade of the sword flew out, nailing the Wizzrobe and killing it in one shot. Josiah had talked about the rare occurrence of sword beams. If the wielder had the right power… and he did have the blessing of Din as well as the Master Sword, so such things might happen more often now.

In the growing wind and rain, Link held his shield arm up to partly cover his face while he looked to the tree that had been behind the Wizzrobe. The other trees around it were green, healthy, and pretty. But this one was all twisted and gnarled, with black leaves and reddish bark. It certainly seemed like a monster tree. Instead of moving in the wet winds like all the other trees, it was absolutely still. He wasn't sure if it was safe to approach it.

Trying something, he pulled out his candle, bow, and an arrow. He lit the arrow on fire (something that took a few tries), then quickly launched the arrow at the tree. The flaming arrow hit the trunk, finally causing it to shudder. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the winds shifted, causing the fire to flare up. One moment the strange tree was there; the next, it had collapsed into hot ashes.

Link ran over and used the damp dirt and even his shoes to stamp out the embers. He did not want to start a forest fire just to take down one tree. A hole with a metal ladder had appeared, taking most of the ashes down there. Once things looked taken care of, he got on the ladder carefully, kicking off any hot embers with his shoes, then descended. Raindrops fell down on him until the wind kicked up again.

This dungeon was brown, with moss growing on the stone gargoyles. There were three ways to go, but both the east and north rooms were dead ends. Not only that, but the north room was even occupied by a blue Gohma. This crab beast took three arrows to its eye before it would be killed. Since there was no apparent way forward, he checked out the western passage from the entrance.

This led him to another one of those giant furball monsters with lilies on its sides, the Manhandla. It was accompanied by two fireball spewing statues. He hadn't seen this beast in a long time. However, he still remembered how to beat it, and the Master Sword proved more effective at cutting off those spitting tulips. Yet that just meant it was sooner to when it reached its hyper rolling state. He destroyed it and got some bombs for his trouble. And he had to pick them up quickly, before the statues set them off. He proceeded to the next room.

Which was filled with red and blue Darknuts, a number of blocks blocking off a stairway in the middle, and some skull bubbles. At least it wasn't more Likelikes plus bubbles, Link thought. He also considered that the Darknuts might have been dumbed down too. While the one in Maser Digdogger's dungeon had been able to speak and fight magnificently, these Darknuts paced around, only using chopping attacks when he got in range. Or when he got hit by a skull bubble's curse; they seemed almost attracted to him then and he had to keep running until the curse ran out.

Eventually, he was able to push the blocks until he found one that moved, and then go into the staircase. However, instead of a tunnel he found another dead end. There was a miniblin chest down here, though. Opening it, he found a strange book, thin in width, but thick with many pages. On the cover was an engraving of the Triforce, along with the title, 'Magic Words and Phrases; My Personal Reference'.

A magic book. Link smiled. Useful, and now he had a reason to keep that magic rod. He opened it up and found, oddly enough, that the words were in a large typesetting. 'While some naturals can cast magic freely, most peoples must use a device to work through: a staff, a rod, an instrument, a necklace, and so on. Various artifacts work differently for different people. Experiment or ask your guide for assistance.

'Once you have your way in using magic, you must learn the words of magic. These must be spoken in order to use the spell. Such words and the description of their effects will be recorded in this book for your convenience.

'There are currently 1 spells in this book.'

Only one spell? Flipping through, Link noted that most of the pages were regrettably blank. But the page right after the introduction text had a spell. 'Wave Burn- this spell creates a straight line magic 'wave' to strike the first foe it encounters. Will stop at walls. Any organic target will erupt into flames. Have fun torching your enemies! But don't torch your friends or you won't have any…'

The blessing of the goddess Din gave him the ability to cast without using words. Which was good, because otherwise this and the rod would be useless to him. Link pulled out the rod and set it to full size. He read the arcane word that accompanied the description of Wave Burn, then closed the book and focused on the rod in his left hand. After trying a few things, he swung the rod down, like he did sometimes with his sword, while thinking of the words. This time, the red gemstone flashed as a ripple of magic raced through the air. It carried on down the hall and hit a bat, then burst into flames. However, the Keese did not seem fazed by this. It just kept flying, now lit on fire.

Well, the spell worked. Link just didn't want fire bats chasing after him too. He put the book and rod back in his depth bag, then pulled out his boomerang and dispatched the fiery Keese.

That left one problem; there were all dead ends in this dungeon. Hopefully some wall could be bombed around here. Link pulled out his sword and began testing it against the walls, listening for that distinctive chink that indicated a weak wall.

He finally found it all the way back in the room the Gohma had been in. He cleared the way with a bomb, then proceeded into another room, one filled with more Darknuts. Link had a feeling this would be another long dungeon.

He did have to battle another blue Gohma, and another tulip furball. But before he was even starting to feel tired, he found one of those locked doors with a name plate. It said 'Gleeok'. Again? Link hoped it wouldn't be another pet of Koume and Kotake.

When he walked in, he didn't see any captives in the room. But there was a four-headed dragon in the room. It was pale blue, though, and started shooting snowballs at him. Snowflakes began to fall as well. Odd, but it gave him a plan. He brought out the magic rod and used Wave Burn on it.

The dragon started to catch on fire, but then a sharp cold wind blasted through the room, sending a flurry of snowflakes towards the dragon. The flames went out. Feeling ice crystals on his skin and clothes, Link decided not to try that again. Instead, he brought out his bow and began shooting at the heads. This Gleeok may have had four heads, but that meant each head had less room to maneuver with.

Then it brought all of its heads up. Magic began to gather quickly. There weren't any pillars in the middle of the room, so he went to a corner by the door and by the large block structure that was surrounding the dragon. Bringing his shield up, he hoped this was enough.

Four large streams of cold energy blasted by him, or onto his shield. Once it stopped, he looked to it. All of its heads were lowered; it seemed that spell exhausted it too. So Link took the chance to strike at its necks with his sword. Two came off and began flying about rapidly, spitting snowballs and spiked ice balls at random. The other two heads rose up and bit his legs.

That hurt, like a dozen freezing steel knives going through his legs. Link cut off a third head, but then the snow in the room increased as the remaining head let go of his leg and rose up. Meanwhile, the main Gleeok roared, then came down as if to bite Link's head off. He bought his sword up and send that through the back of its mouth instead.

For some reason, this Gleeok burst at that, sending almost freezing blood at him. Some of it splattered into his nose and at his lips. And that hurt like acid water, smelling and tasting like rotten meat. Link sputtered, then tried to wipe it away. Despite feeling sickened, he brought out the medicine bottle and drank some of it, hoping to counter any nasty effects it might have. Then he pulled up the bottom of his pants and spread some medicine on the bite wound. As it did with smaller wounds, the magic medicine closed the puncture wounds up nicely, stopping his bleeding. It took all that he had to fix everything.

At least, on the surface. When Link got back up, he still felt nauseated, now lightheaded. Maybe if he just got out of this blood drenched room, he'd be okay. As the strange snow in the room finally died off, he went into the door behind where the Gleeok had sat.

It was an altar room as expected. Another golden fragment lay on the table's surface, this one fitting to the other two of Power. Now he just needed one of that, the one Ganon held. But first, the last pieces of Wisdom and Courage needed to be acquired too.

He gripped the piece of Power, hoping to send Zelda a message that he had it. But his hands began to shake and his throat felt like it was being constricted. What was happening? Was Ganon trying to get rid of him from afar? He teleported out of the dungeon, thinking that might help.

That ended up so disorienting that he collapsed onto the muddy ground and heaved. Not quite throwing up, but he was now so dizzy that he didn't want to get up. Raindrops fell onto him, lighter than before. But then a flash of lightning appeared, tearing apart the sky with a colossal boom.

"Who is that?" a man asked. Several people approached him. "What happened to him?"

There was a sniff. "Gleeok blood," an older woman said. She came closer to him. "Young man, did you kill the snowy Gleeok?"

He looked up to them. The old woman was dressed in a purple dress. A strong witch? And there were three men with her of various ages. He nodded.

"Oh my word..." one of the men said.

"Wait, he's the one with the Triforce," the oldest man (although not nearly as old as the witch) said. "We, um, should…"

"We should help him," the old woman snapped. "He may have killed that dread beast, but he's been poisoned by its blood. I need to work on him quickly, but this storm is going to pick back up any second."

"But Ganon…"

"Bah, I don't give a rat's ass about Ganon. Bring him to my place; get to it."

"Yes, Gran," one of them said. He came over and picked up Link, placing him over his shoulder.

The old witch walked alongside him, examining him already. "From the looks of your legs, I'd say you used magic medicine on those bites. Did you drink any of it?"

He nodded.

"Good, that'll keep you alive long enough for me to get you the proper treatment. Don't worry; I won't do anything improper with you. Go on to sleep and I'll take care of things."

Despite feeling awful, he smiled to her, then closed his eyes. It wasn't easy, what with the pain and tightness of his throat trying to keep him up. But before he knew it, he was asleep.

* * *

 

He woke up intermittently during the next few days. The old witch, who insisted she was okay with being called Gran by everyone, would give him some potion of healing, then a dish she called 'mush stock', which was some kind of mashed mixture of vegetables, mushrooms, and barley in a cuccu broth. It was good, if oddly textured; it was likely not something he'd want normally. But the witch insisted that it was good in times of illness. He suspected that there was some kind of sleeping leaf in with the mush stock, because he fell back asleep soon after eating it.

But he was glad for the sleep. When he was awake, his body felt achy all over, cold but with sweat. He was wearing some kind of sleeping gown while lying on a modest bed, sometimes covered with a warm blanket, sometimes not. And his legs tingled horribly. "Be glad you can't feel that actual pain of that," Gran would sometimes tell him. He took her word for it.

But there came one day when he was given a glass of milk and some porridge. "The worst of it's gone now, Link," Gran said as she set the items down on a crate nearby. "Now you just have to spend some more time here to get your strength back fully. And don't worry none about me. If Ganon sends his minions my way, then I'll just zap them into oblivion." She chuckled. "And I doubt the big pig man will dare to come down here himself."

Link smiled, then sat up. He felt a little woozy, but shifted himself over to the crate and drank some of the milk. It was good, fresh and cold. And the porridge was much better than the mush stock, flavored with honey and some kind of spice he didn't know.

Taking a drink of her own milk, Gran then said, "Ganon came in nearly a hundred years ago, so some of us old folks remember what it was like before him. This land was plentiful, and oh so lovely. There were more than humans around, you know. Hylians, like perhaps you have in your bloodline. And Zoras, and Gorons, and there are rumors of more. We also remember a time when Ganon was a man, not a beast.

"He started off in northern Hyrule, the lands beyond Death Mountain which are said to be an equally wondrous land. He was an adviser to the King, no less, and then to that King's son and daughter. But, the Hyrulean royalty were said to know a great secret about the Golden Power, the Triforce, which you seem to be wearing in pieces. Ganon was from a foreign land; he had gained the trust of the royal family, but not enough to learn what they knew of the Triforce. When the King died of an illness, he is said to have passed on the secret in full to his daughter, but not his son.

"Ganon tried to press the young King for information, but he admitted that it was his sister, Princess Zelda, who knew the secret. So Ganon tried to trick her into releasing that information. Being wise to his purpose, she refused. This angered him and so he cast a curse upon her, to sleep forever, never aging, never dying. The young King tried to fight him, but lost. However, Ganon did not kill him. He left for southern Hyrule, as he had found out that the Triforce was being held here, somewhere secret.

"The young King was deeply upset about this. He declared that from then on, every crown princess of Hyrule would be named Zelda, starting with his daughter. Then he gathered up an army to fight Ganon. That is as much as I know about northern Hyrule. They have managed to hold the border north of Death Mountain, but could not stop Ganon from taking the Triforce.

"But the Triforce would not fully accept him. The three segments all broke into pieces, scattering this way and that. Only a single fragment, one of Power, remained with Ganon. The King of Monsters was infuriated, but any attempt he made to reclaim the pieces failed. Since he now ruled southern Hyrule with an iron fist, he subjected us all to terror, discouraging any of us from gathering up the fragments. He was able to find where some were, and set monsters to guard them from any who would dare rise against him.

"And the snowy Gleeok was one of them. But this demonic dragon was not satisfied with being kept in a dungeon. Every winter, he would emerge and terrorize the eastern woods. He would coat the trees in ice, killing many and preventing us from keeping enough firewood. He destroyed our villages and forced us into hiding in these little holes underground. Many young men attempted to destroy this beast, but none succeeded before you." She took a drink, then added, "That is the history of the one you slew."

Link nodded. He had heard stories of the snow dragon, even in Waterfront. It hadn't occurred to him that he might be the one to slay it, though.

"Even if they're afraid of retribution, everyone around here is grateful for what you have done," Gran said. "So Link, do not feel obligated to give me anything in return. Just keep on your quest and bring down that tyrant Ganon."

He smiled and nodded again. That's what he had intended to do all along. But, Zelda… he wondered if the one he was speaking with was the grand-niece or something to the original one many years ago. She had to be, for Impa had mentioned her being held captive at Ganon's Castle. The older Zelda must have still been in northern Hyrule, whatever happened to that land.

Despite what she said to not worry about it, he spent the next week helping her with chores. Fall was setting in and even though the snowy Gleeok was gone, she and the others inhabitants of the eastern forest still needed to prepare for winter.


	9. Labyrinth of Meditation

It was a cool morning when Link came out of Gran's cave home. The leaves had all turned colors now, a glorious mix of red, orange, yellow, and green overhead. Some leaves were starting to fall, but most were still attached. It was good, and he felt strong enough to go back onto the hunt for the Triforce pieces. There was one last piece to each third. Power lay in the hands of Ganon. He had no clue where Courage was. And Wisdom… it was across a river. Still, what did that mean?

He brought out his map of southern Hyrule and tried to figure it out. There was only one river in southern Hyrule, the river that went through Lake Hylia. He had been on the western side, so was it on the eastern side of Hyrule? That didn't give him much help. It was still a large area of land. He fingered the piece of Wisdom.

"Something troubling you, Link?" Gran asked. "I'll make my best guess at your question to answer it."

He smiled, then pointed to the Triforce of Wisdom, then to the map. Then he held his hand out flat and swept it in a small motion, trying to indicate across, then pointed at the river.

"You're down to the last pieces and you're looking for them. Well we know that Ganon has Power. But you've heard as one of the others being somewhere around the river?"

Close enough. He nodded.

"Well they should be able to locate each other. Why don't you try running the pieces you have over the map? Maybe it'll show a reaction."

He hadn't considered that. Nodding, he pulled the map up and took hold of the Triforce of Wisdom. It was awkward because it wouldn't come off his neck, yet he still had to read the map. The Triforce showed no reaction to the southern part of the river, after it passed through Lake Hylia. But the northern part, it started to glow along the cliff lines that headed towards the Lost Hills.

"That seems to be the place to start," Gran said. "So are you leaving?"

He nodded. He had to make up for lost time, as well as try to reach Ganon's palace before winter set in. It was supposed to be in Death Mountain, which was treacherous during the winter months.

"Well let me give you some goods for your travels. Although if you want some more magic medicine, you'll have to pay for that. I'm sorry, but the ingredients to make ti don't come easy."

He nodded, and followed her inside both for the traveling food (which seemed better than what he could pick up at the stores) and the medicine. Then they bade each other goodbye, and Link headed north.

* * *

 

It would be faster, oddly enough, to pass through the Lost Hills. And it still took him the better part of the day to get up there, and then through that enchanted area of land. Then he found himself at the base of the waterfall. Wondering, Link climbed up the narrow path up the cliff face, then searched around outside and inside the cave where Josiah had lived.

It wasn't long before he found the Zora's skeleton, showing tooth marks from where some wild animals had gnawed on them. He wasn't sure what exactly he should do, but it seemed wrong to leave him on land. When they had trained, his mentor had spoken a lot about the lake, the river, and the great seas beyond it. The Zoras were a people of the water. So Link gathered up the bones and placed them into the mountain spring's pool.

With that done, Link looked around, but found the rest of the cave in a state of disarray. The forces with Ganon had made sure to wreck everything here. Nothing seemed salvageable, save for a blue blanket with a pattern of ocean fish and shells. Hoping his teacher would not mind, he took that, as he might find use for a second blanket. But there seemed to be no monsters left behind. Link took advantage of the cave's shelter and slept in there.

The next day, he descended the cliff and headed east along the river. He killed a couple of Zolas that were bothering him, then took the piece of Wisdom and watched it carefully. It started to show a glowing tendril. He walked slowly along the river, waiting until the line started to point directly across the river.

There was a blank cliff face there, of red-brown rocks. There were no cracks indicting a weak portion of the cliff. And between him and the cliff, the river was running strong. Not a single ledge was in sight. He couldn't put his raft up and use a bomb on it; not only was the current too swift, the bomb might damage the raft, or even destroy it. And the bombs would go out in the river. So it seemed his best option was to light the bombs fuse and throw it just before it went off.

That seemed very dangerous. But he had to get into that hidden dungeon. He pulled out his bomb and candle, prayed that he would be successful, then lit the fuse. It hissed and shrank, until Link felt the time was right and threw it. Arcing over the water, it smacked the wall on its way down, hit the river surface, but blew up right then. There was a large spray of water sent up, then a second one as rocks tumbled off the cliff face to reveal a hidden cavern. Not wanting to lose his things by accident, Link put the candle and bomb bag up, then pulled out the snake rope. He attached the tail end to his waist, then lengthened the body. Next, he threw the head end towards the cave. It took a couple of tries, but he got it to bite down on the bottom of the entry way. He then plunged into the cold river. Although the current nearly swept him away, the rope held. He pulled himself with the rope to cross the river, climbing up into the revealed tunnel once it was in reach. He detached the snake rope to put it up, and then entered.

The first room he came to showed him that this was not a traditional dungeon. It had two doors at the far wall, one without an actual door and the other with a sealed door. On either side of a sign, one gryphon gargoyle and one sphinx gargoyle met him there as silent guardians. The sign stated: 'Welcome to the labyrinth of meditation. Please be quiet as you proceed through the sacred form. The guardians do not react well to noise.'

So, no bombs then, and no recorder. And he probably shouldn't use the magic rod either, as his one spell did produce some strange sounds. Hoping that Ganon's forces hadn't ruined this place too, Link entered the labyrinth.

He first entered a long narrow hallway. There appeared to be no traps, or any enemies. The hall was lit not by torches, but by glowing crystals on the wall. At the end of it, Link found a guardian statue, a Goron like personage who held out both hands. In those cupped hands, there was a clay pot that was like a smaller version of the shopkeeper's fire pot. But there was no fire.

On the wall there was an inscription. 'Fire found deep within the belly of the Earth was brought to the surfaces and tamed to give us warmth, light, and intellectual development. Many tools are forged by fire and many foods are rendered safe and good by fire. It keeps away the winter's chills and brightens the dark nights. Thank you, oh great gods, for allowing us the use of fire. We return fire to you in gratitude.'

So the statue was meant to have a fire in it. Link pulled out his red candle and lit it. After making sure the slight noise did not bother anything, he carefully placed the flame into the fire pot. He worried for a moment that it might be dry, or out of whatever fuel it used. But the fire pot soon turned red and held a flame of its own.

And the statue then moved, nodding its head. It pulled its arms in, bringing the firepot to its chest. There, it stopped. Maybe part of this labyrinth was a riddle.

He turned left and entered a short hallway, which soon turned left thrice more before it turned right and sent him down another long narrow hallway that must have run parallel to the other hall. At the end of it, he came to a statue that looked like a Zora. It was holding onto a pot too.

And it also had an inscription. 'Water, the giver of life, that which we must all have. No living creature can be completely without water. It keeps our bodies working properly. It cleanses things, getting rid of dirt and grime and making us like new. It nourishes the plants and animals that we eat. It also soothes our emotions as we may cry tears and be comforted by the gentle sounds of the ocean, or we may feel joy when rain falls from the heavens to water the crops. Thank you, o great gods, for making water so plentiful. We return water to you in gratitude.'

Water. He had his bottle of water, which he was normally disinclined to waste so that he did not get thirsty in dungeons. But this one couldn't be that long, could it? He brought it out and uncorked it, then poured some water in the pot.

Strangely, he had only given a few drops before the pot managed to fill itself. Apparently whatever magic was running the labyrinth wasn't keen on wasting water either. The Zora statue nodded, then pulled the water pot close to it. Link continued quietly down the labyrinth's path.

Around another series of turns and an even shorter long hall, he came to a statue of a tree. It seemed to represent an old one, with a thick trunk and a crown of leaves that spread around the corner, suggesting that it was much larger than it seemed. A figure of a fairy was sitting on a branch of the tree at his chest level. It was holding onto its own clay pot, keeping it above its head.

Link read the accompanying inscription. 'Forest, the quiet caretaker, the mysterious land. A forest provides many things that we use; fruits, nuts, edible plants, wood, sap, and more. It provides a cool shade in the summer heat. There are many spirits in the forest, from the tiniest fairy to the great tree spirits that we may never learn about. But the spirits do not ask for much, just respect and small gifts in exchange for the forest bounty. The forests also help to inspire our will to grow better, as the forest endures what the rest of nature throws at it, always rising back up towards the heavens again. Thank you, o great gods, for giving us both the mystery and the bounty of the forest. We return a part of the forest to you.'

A part of the forest? That stumped Link at first. He had some items that were made from things in the woods, like his wooden raft. But not anything that he could easily part with.

No, wait… Gran had given him food before he had left, right? And that food had to come from within the forest. He opened up his depth bag and searched through what foods he had, eventually coming up with a bag of precious fresh blackberries. He did have to eat those soon before they went bad. But they could be an offering too. He pulled out three of the berries to place within the fairy's pot.

And that offering was accepted. The fairy bowed its head, then turned and seemed to offer the berries to the tree. Good. Since he had them out anyway, Link snacked on the blackberries as he continued down the labyrinth.

This place had a regular pattern, Link realized as he went around another set of corners. These weren't as complex, as they let to a short hall parallel to long ones, then round another set of turns. This led him to a large room in the center of the labyrinth.

The first thing that caught his eye was three beautiful statues of the goddesses, Farore, Nayru, and Din. They were amazing works of art, strangely kept inside this hidden labyrinth rather than in a grand temple somewhere. Overwhelming in that enclosed room, they were unearthly, beautiful, and kindly looking. They had golden skin and were clothed in colored wraps: Farore in green, Nayru in blue, and Din in red. And floating in front of Nayru, there was a golden fragment of the Triforce.

As Link went up to it, he noticed something odd. There was a shield around it, formed like a silver pyramid. Strange letters flashed cross the bottom. Stranger still, he found that he could understand them. 'Complete the journey of the Labyrinth before you may claim this treasure.'

It made sense; there would be an identical passage of straight halls and many turns past the next door. But what about this room? It seemed wrong to just leave it, but there were no inscriptions, and no place to put offerings. Instead, he knelt in the center of the room, before the three goddess statues, and prayed silently to the goddesses.

So that the people of his home village of Waterfront would stay safe from Ganon's wrath.

So that he could find a way to bring down the tyrannical evil wizard that no one had yet been able to.

So that the peoples of Hyrule, no mater what they were, could live in peace once more.

So that Zelda would be safe.

When he ended his prayer, he felt a strong sense of peace, as well as a confidence that he could defeat Ganon. The goddesses did not want the land to suffer either. He bowed to the statues, then rose back to his feet. With that done, the Triforce moved, coming close to him but not breaking its protective shield. Link nodded to it, then entered the other door.

After a series of turns and that one short-long hall, he entered a completely dark passage. There were no crystals to light the way here, and something about this hall made it completely dark. What if something was down there? But, nothing had been aggressive so far. Link stepped into the dark portion of the hall, putting his hand on the right wall so that he knew where it was.

The Triforce let off a soft glow of its own, but that wasn't much to see by. Link walked down the hall until, strangely, the Triforce shot ahead and went to the corner at the end of the hall. Then, it flickered peculiarly before glowing brighter. An inscription and a statue appeared.

But this wasn't like the others. This statute was a cloaked figure, holding out its hands but not holding onto an offering pot. The inscription was much like the others. 'Shadow, that of the darkness and night. Many of us try to hide from what lies in the shadows, but truth can be found where we do not want to look. There are secrets which must be found in the shadows, or else they will harm us. Still, the darkness is nothing to be afraid of. It is another reality of life. We thank you, o great gods, for not making the shadows our enemy and yet allowing us the temptation of what lies within so that we may learn to resist evil and become stronger. We accept what the Shadow brings.'

Accept what the Shadow brings? The statue wasn't holding anything. Thinking, Link put his hands on top of the statue's. The cloaked figured nodded, then brought its hand out from under his and its arms in to cross over its chest. And the Triforce stopped glowing. Link moved on through the dark hall, navigating the turns with his right hand on the wall.

He saw a streak of light ahead and felt glad for a moment. But when he stepped into that long hall, it turned out to be uncomfortably bright and blinding. Link closed his eyes as they complained about the sudden shift in extremes; he could still see the light's glow through his eyelids. Leaning against the wall, he opened his eyes to slits and slowly got them adjusted to the change. It was still a harsh glare, hard to see in. So he used the same method as before, guiding himself with his right hand on the wall.

Again, the Triforce went to the corner with the statue and did something. The light dimmed enough for him to see what was there without hurting his eyes. There was another cloaked figure, slightly different than the Shadow one. From its hands, it seemed he had to do something like the last time.

But first, he read the inscription. 'Light, the bringer of clarity and sight. Light reveals all that approaches it, even that which we may not want to be seen. Light reveals truth, but it can do so harshly, without a thought to mercy. And we know that light cannot exist without shadow, and shadow cannot be without light. We thank you, o great gods, for not making light our enemy and instead giving it to us as an invaluable tool. We accept what the Light brings.'

So according to the builders of this place, light could be as bad as shadow, while shadow could be as good a light. That was a different way to think on it than he was used to, but he could agree with the reasoning behind it. He placed his hands on the statue's and got its acceptance. Then he moved on out of the glaring light.

The next long hall was the longest of this side, just like the first. Thankfully, it was more comfortably lit, something between the harsh light and the mysterious shadow. There were drawings all over the walls instead, abstract images that seemed to tell a story. A person was born and grew up as a child. As the figures were all so primitive, he couldn't tell the men from the women, or what race these beings were. The child lost a parent and was sad, but moved on. The child grew into an adult, fell in love with someone, got married (maybe), had its own children. Over a lifetime, the figures worked hard, played peacefully, and hunted, farmed, and prayed. Then the figure died and its ghost held onto six symbols, then in another picture held the three triangles of the Triforce. The mural ended, but he had a feeling it could go right back to the start without interruption.

At the end of the hall, the Triforce went up to the statue, but did nothing. Link looked over the inscription. 'Spirit, what lies between things, like twilight between night and day and night, like between body, soul, and mind. Spirit is the natural force of life, from birth to death and back again, through all the events and relationships a being has. Spirit unites us all and gives proof of the divine. We thank you, o great gods, for allowing us life and to know the spirit of it, to increase our wonder at the world. We accept what Spirit brings to us.'

The uniting factor. So did they see things as not true opposites, but connected and in balance? But then, people like Ganon disrupted that balance. Link placed his hands on the statue and it accepted his acceptance.

He walked through the last part of the labyrinth, the piece of Wisdom following along after. Once he was back in the entrance room, he turned to it. The Triforce piece broke its shield and allowed him to touch it. He brought it to its other pieces and put it back in place. Then, the entire Triforce of Wisdom glowed golden, showing the fractured lines brightly, but then fading and fusing them away. When the glow died off, he had his first whole piece of the Triforce.

Smiling, he brought his map back out and tried the other two fragments on it. Power glowed over a spot in the heights of Death Mountain, at a formation of two rocks labeled Spectacle Rock. Was that where he would enter Ganon's palace? He'd have to prepare carefully for that. But when he next tried the piece of Courage, it didn't glow anywhere. Nothing on the map caused it to react. Was its last piece not even in southern Hyrule? It might have been good of the goddesses to keep Ganon from restoring the whole. But, how was he going to restore it? Or, should he leave the final fragment wherever it lay, so that no other mad man would be able to abuse it like Ganon had?

If he couldn't find the last piece of Courage, he might as well make an attempt on Ganon's palace. Even if he just rescued Princess Zelda from there; she might be able to help find the last piece of Courage. Link put his map up, then crossed the river by using his snake rope again. Then he headed east and south, to find a shop and prepare for what could be the hardest dungeon of all.

* * *

 

Although it was out of the way, he went back around Lake Hylia to the first shop he had gone to. One of the kids was sweeping the steps and looked up to see him. "Oh, hello... hey, it's you, mister. You're still alive?"

He nodded, patting the three Triforce parts on his neck. Only one was complete, but the other two were nearly so.

The kid looked awed. "Oh wow mister. But Ganon's tried to kill you because you have them, huh? Are you going to kill Ganon?"

Down in the shop, his mother hissed a warning about saying something like that in the doorway. Then she saw him there. He waved to her, then nodded to the boy's question.

Impressed, the boy saluted him. "That's gotta be tough. Good luck, mister; I hope the goddesses are on your side."

The woman of the family looked to him differently as he came down. "Good afternoon, sir," she said. She then went over to the one who was running the shop today. "Impa, m'am, this young man here, he says, well he doesn't say, but he's going to fight Ganon."

"Oh?" the royal guardian asked, looking to him. "Are you?"

He nodded.

"That's very brave of you," the other woman said. "Pardon me." She went into a room in back.

Impa got up. "So you completed Wisdom, and it seems you have all but two pieces. That's magnificent."

He shrugged, then held out the Courage piece.

"That last piece of Courage? I know something about it, but it's in northern Hyrule. It's a long journey to go there. Please, if you could, at least rescue Zelda. Then I'll be happy to escort you both back to North Castle, where we can discuss the last two pieces. If you do run into Ganon, please be careful."

He nodded, indicating that he knew the danger but was still going to go through with it. Then he went to get what things he needed. Some bombs to fill out his supply, food items, and some more fresh milk (more of an indulgence before setting off, but that was okay).

Then the couple who owned the shop came into the main room. The man was holding onto something, a crystal orb that fit in the palm of his hand. "Sir, if you don't mind… I heard what you plan on doing and I know we shouldn't help you. But it would be better to be rid of that tyrant. Here, take this. It's an Orb of Sanctuary, which keeps monsters away from the area it's in when activated with the switch on the base. And it needs to be on a flat surface to work, so don't try traveling with it activated."

"We have another one, it's just this one got traded to us by another merchant," the wife said. "And it is illegal to sell them, so take it as a gift."

Link smiled and gave them a gesture of thanks, then took the Orb of Sanctuary. According to his magic sight, it should work exactly as they said. It would be nice not to have to battle immediately on waking up.

"That should be of great help to you," Impa said. "Ganon's palace is enormous, with strange winding ways. Be careful there."


	10. Death Mountain Palace

It took three days, but Link headed across the river and north, right up into the sprawling Death Mountain. He ran into many Peahats and Lynels, so got used to keeping his bow out and shooting them from far off, before they knew he was there. It was tough as the fall winds kicked in, sending in unexpected gusts that could throw his arrow off course. The winds also helped trigger rock falls, sending large boulders careening down his way. But even smaller stones proved dangerous, as a mass stream of them once engulfed a Lynel and threw it down the cliffs. Little wonder people called this Death Mountain.

He arrived at the Spectacle Rock formation, a twin pair of thick rock pillars, about as large as three huts from Link's village all crowded together and made taller. He camped near them, but not by them, so as to be less conspicuous. In the morning, he went back to examine Spectacle Rock.

The Triforce of Power clearly indicated that he wanted the eastern rock. Taking a guess, he planted a bomb where it was strongest and backed off. The bomb blasted an entrance to an interior room. This held an unlit fire pot and a spiral staircase heading down. There was also a sign stretched across the top of the staircase, stating that this exit to the palace was sealed off. Not any more. Link removed the chair holding the sign and headed down the staircase.

What he walked into was definitely a palace. The floors were covered in white marble tiles, and the walls and ceiling were both made to be white too, with elaborate trim on the edges. The gargoyles here were brightly colored and decorated with lavish jewels of all kinds. So close to an exit to the surface? Maybe that was why Ganon had sealed it off.

He passed into the next room, which seemed to be filled with even more treasures: pieces of art, rich clothing, jewels, coins made of precious metals, musical instrument, fine metal weapons, and so on, and so on. Standing in there, it was tempting to take something and leave. Many of these items, if sold, could get him an easy life beyond this. But that wouldn't solve anyone else's problems, and Ganon would still hunt him down for what pieces of the Triforce he had. And really, with the power to wish for anything, the Triforce was a much greater treasure than any of these. So Link left them alone and moved on.

The next set of rooms all seemed to be treasure storage too, but these rooms had guards: Likelikes with skull bubbles, Wizzrobes with gels, they all took him to be a thief and attacked. Link was used to them, though, and fought back more effectively. That is, until he made a full loop and ended up back near the entrance again.

Stepping back into the room he had just left, Link considered it. Of course Ganon didn't want the people under his rule getting access to these things. But the Triforce had given him this way and it had to be right. Thinking over it, there might be a room inside the loop. He went over to the wall it would be behind and hit it with his sword. It made that distinctive 'chink' noise. Link set a bomb there, then preceded into the hidden room.

And had to rush to the side as he got dashed at by two red snakes. The red snakes weren't like the fire snakes; they were faster and they didn't move through the concrete blocks. Link defeated them, then noticed a familiar layout: a number of tall blocks encircling part of the floor, usually hiding a staircase to a tunnel. He pushed a block aside and found that he had been right. He went down.

The tunnel headed north, going for quite a long ways. There were Keese as usual. He fought them, then emerged to be surrounded by those tall stone blocks. While it was still lavish looking (the blocks had abstract patterns carved into them), this no longer seemed like a treasury. Link saw one path out of he blocks, so went that way.

He immediately was faced with two Likelikes. He reached for his boomerang and threw it at them, stunning them both in place. Then he slashed them both repeatedly to dispatch them before they revived. Then a third Likelike came around a corner. Link fought it, and three more, before he ran into another doorway.

However, the Triforce did an odd thing. It shone its tendril past the door and to the other wall. Was the Triforce piece, and therefore Ganon, so close? Worried, he went to the next door cautiously and went through.

It was a dark room, but the piece led him to go straight. He lit the room first, thankfully since it turned out to have streams of acid water. These weren't so big, so he simply jumped them. And since the next doorway was open, he even ignored the Wizzrobes. They turned out to be the dumb ones and ignored him too.

In the next room, he heard a loud buzzing chorus, like a swarm of bees. And that's what lay in this room, a single large orange bee about the size of a fairy. It called up a mass of smaller blue bees to circle around it and attempt to collide into or sting Link. He brought up his shield and slashed at them. However, although his sword passed by four of them, he only hit one. The small quick targets would be hard to take down. He tried swinging at the orange bee, but it faded, not letting the hit connect. And then one of the blue bees ran into his shoulder, bounced off, then went back into formation.

This would take a long time. Link pulled out his magic rod and tried the Wave Burn spell on them. One caught on fire. They were moving so fast that when the mother bee drew them in close, the embers flew onto the next bee and lit it on fire, and so on down the line. Once all the blue bees were gone, something happened to the orange bee's magic. It could no longer go intangible. Link defeated it and got a set of bombs for his trouble. The Triforce then pointed him through the one blank wall.

If it said so. Link lit a bomb and threw it over there. It opened up a passage to the next room, which was filled with Wizzrobes, Likelikes, and skull bubbles. It seemed tough, but then he used the Wave Burn spell to set the Likelikes on fire. It didn't work on the Wizzrobes, but with the Likelikes gone, it was easier to nail them with arrows. A miniblin chest appeared.

Avoiding the Skull bubbles, Link went over to the chest and opened it up. Inside, there was a silver ring. Pulling it out, he noticed that it had a half yin or yang sign on it, a red swirl with a blue dot on it. Checking the blue one he had, he fit the red ring over it. The two rings clicked together, combining their protective powers. That was reassuring.

But now, the Triforce was directing him back into the room he had just left. It was guiding him through this dungeon palace? Considering that bee enemy, Link was grateful. He thought a prayer of thanks to the goddesses, then went on his way.

It was a good thing to have the guide. Otherwise, he might have gotten disoriented with all the tunnels, walls that needed to be bombed, plus the monsters. It continued to be lots of Wizzrobes, Likelikes, skull bubbles, and Gels, with a few of those bee things. He found one nameplate that called it a Patra, but then that had been a fake out. There had been four doors in that room with the Patra plus a staircase, all of which sealed until the Patra bees were killed. Knowing how to deal with them now, Link used fire and his sword.

The Triforce then led him south (at least, he thought it was south) in the five way Patra crossroads, which led him to another Wizzrobe and bubbles battle. The Triforce then led him to the next room (the only option) where he saw two blue colored monster snakes in the room. The two lifted their heads and looked at him with their strangely large eyes. Then they started racing recklessly about the room, seemingly not caring if they actually hit him or not.

Link was momentarily alarmed. Those snakes were moving faster than any being he had ever seen in his life. He brought out his boomerang and tried to stun them. It took some time to actually hit one, but when he did, it had no effect. They were much too fast for his bow, or the magic rod. And they both seemed intelligent enough to keep away from a lit bomb, which blew up to no effect. These things were just too fast.

Finally, he readied his sword for a spin attack, but held off on using it. When their random motions brought them near, Link released the spin attack, finally damaging the both of them. They were determined not to get killed yet; this made him glad that he had the Master Sword, because the White sword would have taken much longer. After another three spin attacks, he finally destroyed them both. They left nothing but snake skins behind. Well, that and a miniblin chest that had appeared.

Seeing that, Link felt that this was a good time for a break. He pulled out the Orb of Sanctuary, set it on the floor, and flicked the switch. It emitted a soothing white glow and a quiet hiss, but no more. But Link could also see the protective magic symbol that had appeared beneath it. This room was now safe. He knelt down and opened up the chest.

And out shot an orange haired fairy. "GAH!" it screamed. "Those frikkin frackin Miniblins…" she saw him, then blushed. "Oh my gosh, sorry for the language! But I've been through an awful time. Blah. Man it's gonna take me weeks to get rid of that miniblin stench."

Despite himself, Link smiled a bit. He bowed his head to her. She was okay now.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks, and I'll… oh wait, you're already a friend to fairies? Geez, you must be some big shot hero. Anyhow… oh, you have a magic quiver." She giggled and twirled around, then flew closer. "I know a secret that Ganon doesn't want me to," she said in a sing song voice.

He raised his eyebrows. That could be why she had been taken by Miniblins.

"Exactly! The thing is, Ganon's horrifically powerful now, having used all sorts of demonic magic to make himself invincible. But, he could only get near invincible with the magic of hell. There are two weapons which, if used in tandem, will bring him down and undo all his self preservation magic. Gosh, it sounds like he's pickled himself, huh? Anyhow, you have one weapon, which is the divinely blessed Master Sword. And the other weapon, I can enchant for you. You need the Silver Arrows, arrows that have been given a blessing to be holy weapons as well. And I can make your quiver so that it always gives out Silver Arrows. Here, I'll get right to work."

She flew over to his quiver, then placed her hands upon it and chanted something that sounded like bells. A silver glow came from the quiver. When it faded, the fairy pulled out an arrow that seemed to be coated with a fine silver dust.

"And there are your Silver Arrows! How's that?"

He took it and saw the magic, which was much like that of the Master Sword. He nodded and gave a gesture of thanks.

"Great! Now, I'm outta here. But don't think of it as me ditching you. Think of it as me ditching Ganon. Bye bye!" She then disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.

With that taken care of, Link sat down against the miniblin chest and rested. Who knew when he'd run into Ganon, or Zelda. He'd come such a long ways already. But, he had only run into the dumb monsters thus far. Maybe that was a downside Ganon hadn't considered, that the dumber monsters would be unable to report an intruder like him. They were very tough monsters, and if he hadn't been experienced with most of them already, he would have taken a lot longer to get to this point, if he even got this far at all.

After having a snack of some nuts and dried berries, Link retrieved the Orb of Sanctuary and turned it off, putting it away. He took out his sword and shield, moving ahead by following the Triforce of Power's guidance.

He went back to the crossroad room and went west this time, entering a dark room. Firing the wave burn spell revealed that it was just protected by large Gels and a ring of acid water. The upper door wasn't even shut. He was able to run through a room full of Wizzrobes, only to encounter a room with Wizzrobes and spiked wall traps. The Triforce was leading him downward, so he dispatched all the Wizzrobes first. But that didn't reveal a staircase. Instead, he spotted a block near a pressure plate. Adjusting the Goron's Power Bracelet, he pulled the block onto the pressure plate, then turned to where he heard the door open.

It was underneath one of the wall traps. Link took a deep breath, then approached the trap, making it look as though he was headed for the wall. The spike traps on three corners sprung, rushing along the wall in an attempt to impale him. But he had stayed diagonal from the corner until he could run down the stairs without worrying about being hit.

He passed through a long winding tunnel, then emerged into a room with a Patra. Almost right on top of the thing, so he got hit immediately by three of the summoned bees. He could also dispatch two of them quickly with his sword, but then he ran off to get out of range and pull out the magic rod. This one kept its ring of small bees close, tilting them. That made it easier to set the small bees on fire, then kill the Patra mother unit.

There was only one door in the room, so he took out his medicine bottle and drank some of it to ease up the bruises and stings that he had taken from the Patra. He paused to let it work, and then went through the unlocked door.

Next was a surprisingly normal looking room. It was still lavish, with black and gray marble tiles instead of white, fancy jeweled gargoyles in the four corners, a simple chandelier of those glowing crystals, a large wooden desk strewn with papers, pens, an ink bottle, and notebook, and a large classy wooden bench with a dragging set cushion. The thing breaking up this apparently normal upper class scene was the one who was sitting in the bench seat. Ganon, the massive green skinned monster-pig like man, wearing a grand black cape with a golden crest on it and a tight pair of black shorts (tight on him, anyhow).

On hearing the door open, Ganon grunted and sniffed, which came out like some disgusting slobbering sound. He remained in a slouched position; otherwise, he might have hit his head on the ceiling of this room. "Slave, if you're not bringing in a meal, then leave me alone, hear?" He flicked his hand back and casually threw a fireball the size of Link's head at him.

Link brought up his shield and blocked the fireball. Then he drew his sword back out. He gave a brief prayer for the protection of the goddesses. The three parts of the Triforce glowed.

"Didn't I tell you to get out?" Ganon demanded and finally turned his head.

He saw the glowing parts of the Triforce, getting a similar glow from a single fragment hanging around his neck. And he saw the glow of the Master Sword, sending a white light onto the dark colored floor. And he must have seen the determination in Link's eyes, since he felt it so strongly himself.

"An assassin?" Ganon whirled up from the bench, somehow sending the furniture away. He avoided hitting the ceiling, but even then, had to crouch down to fit. "Grrr, you fool! No one can defeat me now, no one! And soon, I will be able to strike down the three goddesses themselves. Do not think that Golden Power will be enough to save you, boy. You only have one whole, but I'm sure you have no idea how to use them. Let me show you what I can do with just one piece of it!"

And then, he vanished. The four gargoyles started spitting out fireballs, each in turn. Link brought his shield close, then spotted another giant fireball coming his way. He turned to block it. So Ganon was now invisible. Link ran over to where the fireball had come from and swung through the air.

He hit nothing. In the meantime, another giant fireball came flying at him. "I'm not even doing anything major," Ganon taunted him, from yet another part of the room. "I can burn entire villages just by snapping my fingers. I can bring down entire mountains by stomping at the base. I can turn a clear cloudless sky into a violent typhoon. You might as well give up."

No. He would not do that. He swung in a wide arc, still not hitting anything. He had to find out where Ganon was now. He played defensive, listening for the tyrant to speak again.

"You're the quietest hero that I've ever encountered," Ganon said before launching a fireball at him. When he spoke next it was from another spot. "Most would boast and yell. Oh wait… you must be that ignorant little boy from Waterfront. So that's twice now that one person has stood up to me. I'll make sure to have you suffer so you learn your…"

Link got near the voice and stabbed in its direction. He got a pig-like squeal in response as Ganon turned visible again. He was sitting, more or less, and Link had got him in one fatty knee. He pulled the sword out then got his bow and shot a Silver Arrow in between Ganon's eyes.

It let loose a flash of silver light which cut right through Ganon, disintegrating a hole through his head. But it didn't stop there. The silver light spread, burning away Ganon's body with a strange fire. The tyrant didn't even get to scream as his mouth and throat were swallowed up quickly. A minute later, there was nothing but a golden piece of the Triforce on top of a large pile of ashes.

His heart thumping, Link looked around the room. Was that really it? He knew what the fairy had said. But had it just taken a single stroke of his sword and a single arrow through his head to kill the evil pig man wizard Ganon?

And then something happened. The magic in the room began to unravel. The lavish setting quickly turned into gray and brown stones. With his death, a great many of his spells were coming undone. That was a sign that he was truly dead.

A black spirit emerged from the ashes. "What?" a faint echo of Ganon's voice cried out. "Some voiceless country boy is the one who defeated me? This can't be! Look, if I had been using my full powers, you would be dead seven times over now. And just so you know, I'm going to be telling the monsters under my command the secret to bringing me back to life. And that's to rip the heart out of your body and sprinkle the blood over my ashes. And believe me, you haven't seen the worst of my savages. You will die." The dark ghost then vanished, somehow taking the ashes with it.

But not the Triforce piece. Link went over and picked it up. It began to glow along with the other fragments of Power. Placing them together, the piece reformed just as Wisdom had. So all he needed now was the last fragment of Courage. Impa said that they would discuss where that piece was, once he returned with Zelda.

The three Triforce pieces then directed him into the next room. Link entered and found that either the enchantments were still strong in here or this one was more real than the rest. It was like a gray and brown cave, with blue glow crystals lighting it up. But there was a ring of magic fire surrounding the doorway. Past the room, there was a cot, a table with a stool and a bench, a spring of water, a toilet urn, and a fire pit. There was a girl sitting on the cot, wearing long red dress that was getting tattered at the edges, black shoes, and a pearl necklace.

But something was wrong. This girl had long red hair. He recalled seeing Zelda in a violet dress, with long brown hair. Was this even the right girl? At any rate, he slashed at the fires. The Maser Sword flashed, causing them to go out.

The girl got up then. "Oh, are you here to rescue me? I'm Princess Zelda. Please, let's get out of here before Ganon comes and… unless…" she looked at his necklace.

Link showed her the whole Triforce of Power to prove that Ganon was dead.

"Oh, you've already defeated him? Wonderful, thank you so much! All of Hyrule will be glad. Still, we had best leave. I recall Ganon mentioning an exit in a room around here."

It may have been a Princess Zelda, but she wasn't the one he was looking for. Still, he shook his head, then put up his sword and held out his left hand. When she accepted it, he used the Triforce of Wisdom to teleport them away.


	11. Weakening of Evil

This Zelda was a year younger than him at fifteen years. Having been held captive for several months, she got tired quickly after clambering down mountain trails. Link led her to the river that fed Lake Hylia, and then set up camp. It made him glad that he'd thought to take the blanket from Josiah's house. He could let the princess sleep in the tent with his blanket, then sleep outside with the other. In the morning, it was cold, but not yet at frost stages.

He got up at dawn as usual, this time thanking the Orb of Sanctuary that cut out his usual wake up battle from occurring. If this was a usual morning, he'd be leaving within the hour. But he had a guest with him now. Koume had been up with him at dawn, but then she'd been in decently good shape after being healed from her wounds (if she hadn't faked those too). Link quietly went over and checked on Zelda.

Out here in the dawn's light, and not being pursued by monsters, he could get a better look at her. She was dirty and worryingly thin. There were some scars on her face and the hand that he could see. He felt bad briefly about going all the way down here before resting. It couldn't be easy on her, to go from being a captive to being with a silent man who was always on the watch for monsters or other dangers. Leaving her to rest, he considered the options.

She had been too weary to stay up long last night, so he had offered her some of his food before allowing her to sleep. This morning, he brought out his fishing pole and caught several fish from the river. He recalled a fish soup that his mother would make during times when the fishing would be rough and things needed to be stretched. He didn't have everything for it, but he might be able to come up with something reasonably close.

When the soup was done, Zelda was finally up. Link didn't have two bowls, or even one, so he just pulled the pot off the fire and gave her a spoon (which he did have two of). She was amused by it and did seem greatly cheered by being under the open sky again.

"I'm happy to not have porridge again," she said, after taking another spoonful of the soup. "But I've never had anything like this before. Is it something your family makes?"

Link felt a twinge of homesickness as he nodded. Even when it had seemed a distant goal, he had always planned on returning home if Ganon was killed, either by his hand or something else. But now there were other things to think of, like finding that last piece of the Triforce and possibly escorting Zelda and Impa home. He had at least left his village willingly; they had been forced away.

And the soup would have been much different if made with sea fish, or by his mother.

Once they were done with breakfast, he asked her with gestures to rinse the things off with the river water, then he set about to cleaning up their campsite. He didn't move the Orb of Sanctuary until they were both done and the things were put away (and after she excused herself for nature's call, of course). With all that done, he put on his sword belt, but handed her the knight's shield.

"Um, I'm not sure if I can wear this," she said, showing her thin arms.

He shook his head and tried to indicate that she should just hold onto it. Then he brought out his raft and placed it on the river. After thinking it over, this seemed to be the best way to manage things. Using the snake rope to keep it in place until they were ready, he waved her onto the raft.

She got on, carrying the shield. At his signal, she sat down near the front. "I've been on boats before," she said, adjusting the shield so it sat by her, protecting her. "But not on a raft."

To this, he pointed down the swift flowing river. The waters were moving rapidly, sloshing up in a few places. It wasn't as wild as some of the ocean waves he had dealt with before, but might be rough to someone new to rafting. Grabbing the oar with one hand, he retrieved his snake rope. That caused the raft to start drifting, so he put the rope up and took the oar in both hands, directing the raft away from the river banks.

Link did his best to steer towards the smoother portions of the river, although sometimes he hit a crest and the raft would rise out of the water partly before crashing back down. Zelda gripped onto one of the ropes keeping the raft together with one hand and the shield with her other. Sometimes she closed her eyes or made a surprised yelp when splashed by cold waters, but she did her best to be brave too.

Towards the mouth of the river, the speed of the water and the raft picked up. Link didn't stall it any, even tried to help boost it along. On hitting the lake, they continued speeding along. He made sure that it wouldn't flip on any of the lake's waves, but kept it going to cross as much distance on this coast as it could. Eventually, the raft slowed enough that he would have to use the oar again to keep going south.

Zelda laughed a bit, brushing her hair out of her face. She still seemed nervous. "That was exciting, but kind of scary too."

Then she probably didn't want to get out on the ocean waves in a fishing boat. He smiled to her, then put the oar down on the raft to pull out his bow. Putting an arrow to it, he looked around. Zolas had to be aware of them. And, there had to be an underwater 'stream' taking the water from one river mouth to the other. He located the flow of water first, then spotted a Zola lurking just below the surface, observing them. Picking the oar back up to steer the raft towards the flow, he kept a watch on that Zola.

And then something remarkable happened. Something came up from behind the Zola and dragged it further underwater, causing a noisy disturbance that Zelda tensed at. Before long, a being emerged near the raft. But it did not have the monstrous hungry-eyed look of the Zolas. It was a Zora, looking scarred and battered, but doing his best to remain strong. "Pardon us," the Zora said. "But, you seem to be the bearer of the Triforce, young man."

Zelda glanced at him, then looked to the Zora and nodded. "Yes he is," she said. "His name is Link, but he remains silent under a curse of Ganon."

"I see." The Zora swam up to the raft, so Link put his arrow back. "But you have two whole pieces; you must be the one who slew Ganon."

He nodded.

"He did," Zelda said. "But how do you know of the evil king's death?"

He laughed and brought a finned hand out of the water. "Is it not obvious? Ganon cursed many of us to become coral at the bottom of Lake Hylia, then filled it with terrible mockeries of us. Yesterday, the curse was broken, which could only be done upon his death. And he bears the whole Triforce of Power… and deserves it. Link, on behalf of all of us Zoras, I thank you for what you have done."

He smiled and gave a nod of acknowledgment.

"Tis a pity, though, that you still remain under your curse. Where are you two headed?"

"To the south shore, I believe," Zelda said, which Link confirmed.

"All right. The lake appears calm, but it is violent under the surface. The Zolas are not giving up our palace. We will accompany you across to make sure your passage is safe."

Link gave his sign of thanks, then thought of something. He set the oar down, then pulled out the white sword and handed it to the Zora.

"Hmm, this sword?" he took it, then noticed the name on the handle. His eyes widened. "Josiah? That's the old hero and swordsmaster of our kind… do you know of where he is?"

He nodded. But, how could he communicate what happened?

At that, the Zora turned serious. "From the look of your eyes, I would say that he is gone from this world, and you knew him. Where does he rest?"

Link pointed back towards the northern river, then made an upward sweep of his hand.

"Up the river, or near the waterfall. We shall have to look for him, once things settle down in the lake, and honor his passage. But thank you for returning his sword to us."

He nodded and patted his heart. Josiah deserved that. With that settled, he picked the oar back up and started off to the south.

Back on land, Link had to be wary of monsters again. Zelda had trouble carrying the large shield, so he took it back, gave her his smaller shield, then kept close to her. Fortunately, it was mostly octoroks and tektites around here, so they could be easily taken care of with his bow before they even got close.

It was early afternoon by the time they reached the shop, much faster then they would have gotten there by going around the lake. Zelda was still puzzled as to where they were headed. But when they got down in there, she saw why. "Impa!" she called out, then ran over to her guardian.

"Zelda!" Impa took the girl in her arms and looked her over. "Oh, it's wonderful to see you again. I'm sorry I couldn't come after you."

"I'm just glad that I'm away from there," Zelda said, sniffing. "And that the evil pig is dead."

She looked up to him. "You defeated Ganon as well?"

"Princess Zelda?" one of the kids asked. She rubbed her eyes and nodded.

As he looked to Impa, a pink orb drifted by. A fairy had come out of one of the barrels. "Yup! And it was with my Silver Arrows too, right?"

Smiling at the fairy, he nodded again.

She clasped her hands together. "Awesome! I told you it would work."

"That is magnificent, Link," Impa said. "I don't think Hyrule will be able to thank you enough for what you've done. If it's okay with you, I'd like to bring you up to North Castle with us to meet the King and bring him this news. But, if you folks are okay, she probably does need a couple of days to get used to moving around a lot."

The man of the shop family looked astonished, but smiled. "Well, if it's for the princess, and the new hero of the land, then it's no bother. We'd be happy to help."

Waving over to the fairy, he asked her mentally about something.

"Oh, okay," she said cheerily. "Hey folks, he wants to say that he will come to North Castle with you both, but if you want to spend a few days here helping the princess to get ready for the trip, then he'd like to head back to his home village for the time. You know, so he can see his family and such."

Impa nodded. "I see. That's fine; you should go let your family and village know what's happened. Could you meet us back here in three days time? We do want to get to the castle before winter sets in."

He agreed to that, then bade them all goodbye. The fairy, on impulse, decided to follow him back to Waterfront.

* * *

 

He got back to his village as the sun was low in the sky, but not quite to evening. He first saw a couple of girls attending to drying fish and waved to them. Recognizing him, they waved hesitantly. "Good evening, Link," one called out. "What are you doing here?"

The fairy flew forward. "He comes back with great news!" she said. "He slew Ganon, restored two of the three parts of the Triforce, and saved Princess Zelda!"

"Oh my gosh, so that's true?" one girl said. "We had heard something like that from the sea Zoras, who suddenly came back. So it's real, and it was you?"

He nodded.

"Incredible! We have to tell everybody. Go on back to your mother; she should be home and I'm sure she'll want to see you immediately if she hears."

Of course. As the two girls ran off to find their friends and the elders, Link hurried along the dirt paths. It felt strange and wonderful to be home again. He still worried that he might present a danger here, as Ganon's minions were still alive. If Ganon's words were true, they would be hunting him down. But for a little while, he could afford a visit.

He came to the small clay brick house and saw that the door was open. Knocking on it as he passed in, he looked around. It looked much the same, with his mother and younger sister working at a spinning wheel. He smiled and waved to them as they looked up.

"Link? You're back?" his sister asked, getting up from where she had been working.

"Is it safe now?" his mother asked, stopping the spinning and turning to him.

He nodded.

"Yup," the fairy said. "He defeated the King of Darkness and I'm gonna tell his whole story for him, if you want, of course." She looked eager to do so.

He nodded, smiling. Might as well let her, as he couldn't tell.

That telling came the next day, as he had arrived too late for the village to pull anything together for that night. But on hearing that the King of Beasts was gone for good, they were happy to take the whole day off to celebrate. He spent much of the morning with his family. Around noon, the town got a surprise visitor when Zelda and Impa arrived. Link and his family came out to meet them.

"I wanted to see what this place was like," Zelda said. "And we've got to walk all the way back home, so I might as well get ready for that long hike."

"We don't have much to welcome a princess with," Link's father said. "But make yourselves at home; we'll do what we can for you."

There was a veritable feast for lunch, including a number of fish that the other fishermen had gone out very early to catch. There were breads, a chili, many vegetables and fruits, some desserts, whatever the families could pull out for this unexpected holiday. It was loud and cheerful and Link got so much attention from the village girls (and the young princess) that he wasn't quite sure what to do about it. Mostly, he politely kept them away, although it didn't stop one from actually kissing him.

After lunch, people gathered around as Link told his story through the fairy. He started off when he found the first piece of the Triforce of Courage, for the princess and Impa. Then he went through the important parts, although he declined to let the fairy know anything of his meetings with the other Zelda. The fairy spoke for him with rather more exuberance than he would have, if he could speak. She was prone to making things sound flashier than they actually were, which was kind of entertaining in its own fashion.

But he did decide to tell them about the words of Ganon's ghost. "So if you die, they could bring him back?" one child asked.

He nodded, but then thought of something that made the fairy laugh. "Oh, but he says that he'll just have to make sure that they can never get his heart when he dies."

That caused some laughter, but also nervousness. "You're going to leave again, aren't you?" his father asked.

Link nodded and patted the Triforce of Courage. He still had to repair that and then he might be able to lift all the curses Ganon had put over the land of Hyrule. Maybe even the ones on himself.

* * *

 

After staying a few days in Waterfront, Link had to leave once more. Zelda and Impa left with him, while the fairy left to seek out some of her kin. It made it difficult to communicate again, but this Zelda was clever. When they rested or camped, she made an effort to figure out what his hand signals meant. By the time they got to the Goron tunnels, she could make accurate guesses as to most of his signals.

And people were less wary of him, for which Link felt glad. They would come up to the group, hoping to talk with Zelda, or him. Impa managed to dissuade most from holding them back too long, as they wanted to get back to North Castle before frosts became common. But in the evenings, they would talk and exchange goods like long cloaks (to disguise all three of them from Ganon's forces), a larger cooking pot, and another tent. They couldn't get horses or any other faster means of transport, though. As they didn't have that available, it would be a long trek.

A long trek. It was nearly two weeks after Link had defeated Ganon when they reached the Death Mountain area again. Zelda was looking better with the travel and decent (but better) food, so they didn't have to break for a rest quite so often. Impa had acquired a wooden staff to use as a weapon; she was good enough that she readily gave him advice on this different style of fighting, on protecting someone who couldn't fight back. As for Link himself, he came to understand that even with Ganon dead, he couldn't let himself slack off in terms of training. The monsters were still after him, in hopes of reviving their master.

"We'll enter the mountain passages tomorrow, from which we can reach Saria," Impa said, cutting up a beast they had killed for their dinner. She passed over a bowl of fats. "Here Link, if the pot is warm, rub those fats over the inside. Keep a few pats so that we can add them with the meats and vegetables to cook better."

He nodded, following her instructions. For being a palace servant, she knew quite a lot about camping out. Link had been watching how she prepared the animal; now he was focused on learning to cook it, so that he could do so later on. On the other hand, Zelda was a short distance away (but easily seen by the two of them) working on her magic. The Hyrulean royal family was known to be powerful magicians, all of them. Even if she was only fifteen, he had seen her do things that only the best village witches could do. Like lifting a boulder ten feet high with only her magic and the movements of her hands. His Power Bracelet had been unable to budge that one.

But she had been part listening to them. "Could we borrow some horses from the river town?" Zelda asked, pausing her attempt to mimic the effect of the Orb of Sanctuary.

"I'm sure we could manage that," Impa said, separating parts of the meat. "If we find a knight or a merchant we can trust, we can possibly get a coach to the castle instead. I'd prefer that; frost is coming and I would rather not take an inexperienced rider on a long trip in bad weather."

"I've ridden horses," she replied, sounding a touch indignant. After a pause, she added, "I know it's been a while, but…"

"Have you ever ridden a horse, Link?" Impa asked.

He shook his head. Boat, yes, he knew how to control them. He had no idea how one would control a horse.

"And it's probably best if you didn't have to learn while Ganon's forces are after you," Impa added. "It's hard enough to learn horse riding, but battle on horseback takes a skilled warrior and a superb horse. Okay, we're just about ready to start cooking. Add the wild onions and those herbs in first; make sure to crush the herbs well. Then we'll add the tougher vegetables, and I'll help you with the meats. If the pot starts to look dry or dull, add more fat to grease it up."

After dinner (which was noticeably better than previous ones), Link went through his equipment to maintain and repair what he could. He wasn't sure how to do maintenance work on his enchanted items, like the quiver. But the magic looked fine as far as he could tell. If he could meet with a trained wizard of some sort, he might indicate that he wanted to know that.

Zelda seemed to be thinking a lot about something. At one point, she and Impa went off a little ways to talk about it. Link respectfully stayed by the fire, sharpening his pocketknife. She was a nice and intelligent girl. But Link found himself missing the other Zelda, the one with brown hair. When he had been an outcast for holding the Triforce, she had been one of the few to reach out to him willingly, before he had done anything for her.

* * *

 

That night, Link has a dream. Many shadowy beings were trying to kill him, but with the Master Sword, he was able to defeat them one by one. However, he felt like taking them out wasn't as important as getting somewhere. He ran along a path, slaying the monsters that got in his way and avoiding those that weren't. Eventually, he entered a grand palace, continuing to get rid of the shadowy beasts. Something in here was important, very important.

Then, he spotted a door that he wanted to take. Past it, he found an old room, filled with enchantment and kept as pristine as the day it was made. In the center of the room, there was a bed. And Princess Zelda, the one of brown hair and a violet gown, was lying there. In the room with her, there was the spirit of Ganon, the black form and glowing red eyes unmistakable. Feeling enraged, Link wasted no time starting an attack on Ganon.

The Master Sword's blade slashed right through Ganon's shadowy form like air, but the scream he gave confirmed its effect. The ghost moved away quickly, towards one of the walls. "Silently he comes, the little fisher brat trying to be a paladin," Ganon said. "But I knew you would come for her. It is unavoidable. My servants are coming for you. They will take your life, and the lives of anyone who dares protect you. You will not be able to stop my resurrection!"

Link struck him again, causing Ganon's spirit to flee through the walls. He waited a moment, seeing if the wicked ghost would reappear. Since he did not, he went over to the princess' side and sat on the edge of her bed.

In a flicker, she vanished. He went tense with worry, but then she reappeared in her spiritual form, the one she visited him with. "Oh, here you are," she said, smiling. "Your dreaming mind, at least. Thank you for rescuing my niece, and for slaying Ganon. His hold on the land weakens, and yet... he is right. If you want to restore the Triforce, you will need to come to me. And," she turned a little pink, "if you wish to help me... you will need to restore the Triforce. Well, not exactly. But if you're going to do one, the solution to the other is so close at hand that you may as well."

Was it just a dream? Or was she well now that he had dreamed? Whatever it was, he smiled and took her hand.

"I haven't spoken to many people either, since I was cursed," Zelda said. "Mostly my nieces, the descendants of my brother. Ah, anyhow... Ganon has always kept watch over me. He knew I was still keeping secrets of the Triforce from him, and that I had done something with that one piece of Courage. But I wanted to make sure that no other evil could get a hold of the entire Triforce again. It is a sacrifice that must be made for the sake of Hyrule, and the world. All along, I knew that I would do whatever it took to keep my land safe. But I know, deep in my heart, that I can trust you with it."

Link bowed his head. Getting the Triforce was important to restoring Hyrule to how it should be. And while he was here, he knew that he wanted to help this Zelda as much as he could. She had done what she could for him, and he might not have gotten this far without her.

She smiled. Like the fairies, she seemed able to understand him now. "I had hope for you, and I'm glad I could give hope to you. Well, as you heard, Ganon's spirit is watching over me. When he is close, I have a hard time contacting you. But I have resisted him for this long! I am certainly not about to give in to him now." She laughed in spite of the danger; it was a beautiful sound.

Then she put her head on his shoulder. "Link... my hero. Come see me as soon as you can."

He certainly would do so, once he knew where she was.


	12. Spies in Saria

The southern face of Death Mountain Link had already been across. But they needed to travel through it to the northern face. Impa brought them to a tunnel entrance high on Death Mountain, on the western side. "Given where you entered Ganon's palace, this way should stay clear of that place," she said. "And it's not going to be easier going down, so keep alert."

"I hope there's no trouble," the red-haired Zelda said.

There would be, Link knew. At first, it was just monsters. He gave Zelda his red candle to keep the area lit, mostly for her and Impa. This gave him free hands to use his bow and arrows to shoot down monsters before they got too close. As the passages turned and dipped often, sometimes they couldn't avoid a monster surprising them from a hidden spot close by. Impa often handled the close fights with her staff, Link helping out with the Master Sword if needed. Zelda sometimes used her magic to help, but it drained her of energy immensely. "I wasn't allowed to do much, so I must be out of practice," she said one time.

Around midday, or what seemed to be that time, the three of them encountered a group of Gorons mining in the tunnels. "You must be brave and strong to be walking through here when you're not Gorons," one said to them. "We can squash the monsters easily, but most small ones like you need guides."

"We've been doing well," Impa said. "But I have heard that the tunnels ahead can get confusing. Do you have a map of their current layout?"

"Map?" the Goron asked. "Oh, the paper things. We don't use those. But that area is well traveled by Gorons, and safe passageways are marked with our signs. Here, I have a stick." He then brought out an iron rod that was nine feet tall. A stick to him, perhaps. He then drew out some signs in the dirt on the floor. "Sign of Goron means that place is good for mining. Sign of feet mean that place is good for walking. And sign of dead eyes means that it is a bad tunnel to be in. There will be other signs, but these are basic and should be near most paths."

"That's good to know, thank you," Zelda said.

"Is there any way we can know the quickest path to the town of Saria?" Impa asked.

The Goron nodded and added another sign, this one a symbol of a house. "Oh yes. We trade a lot with Saria, although we have had to walk across the river lately as they keep their bridge up. This sign means it is a path to a not-Goron town."

Another one of the Gorons pointed them down another tunnel. "Go down that way and keep straight until you see the not-Goron town sign on the wall. They are mostly on paths that are more traveled than this one."

With that help, the three felt more secure with a route to take. Now that they were in Goron territory, the signs were common. Many areas showed frequent changes, where one symbol was chiseled out to be replaced by another. Most likely, it was because of the recent defeat of Ganon making these tunnels accessible. Sometimes, Link spotted signs that suggested that some tunnels were dangerous but still being mined.

The path to Saria, once they were on it, was not as straight as they would have liked. It changed directions frequently, often sending them out on the north side of Death Mountain to find the next tunnel entrance on the path. There were several pits where they had to climb down to cross and then climb back up to continue. A few times, there were even pits of liquid fire this often caused problems, as the princess wasn't able to make jumps that Link and Impa could handle. Most often they found a path around it, although once Link used the Goron bracelet to throw a large rock into the fire pit, letting her cross quickly before it dissolved into the fire. There were also more monsters to take care of, the most dangerous one being a red beast human that fought Link with an axe the size of his head. He and Impa managed to bring it down, thankfully.

When the sky began to darken with evening, they came out of Death Mountain for the last time. Before them was a rocky turf with some tough grasses on it. Not far past there, a wide river moved sluggishly in its banks. The town of Saria sat on the northern bank of the river, glowing with light and clustered tightly together. It was much bigger than his hometown, bigger than any other settlement Link had seen.

"Now we're officially back in northern Hyrule," Impa said with a smile. "We should be able to find a place to rest in town."

"I can make it," Zelda said, although her voice was weary and her movements less graceful from the weight of exhaustion. But they were so close and it was late to be setting up a camp anyhow. Impa took the princess' hand and they walked towards the gatehouse by the river.

There, they met with a group of three soldiers. "Are you refugees from southern Hyrule?" one of them asked. "It's been a long time since anyone that's not a monster or a Goron came this way."

"Southern Hyrule is free now," Impa said. She put her hand to her chest, pulling back her sleeve to reveal a tattoo. "I am Impa, a servant of the Royal Family, and this is Princess Zelda as well as the hero who defeated Ganon, Link."

"Princess Zelda?" one of them asked in awe.

"And Ganon's defeated?" the third asked. "Is that true?"

Link nodded, while Zelda said, "Yes, it is. I am heading back home now, but we have had a long day in the mountains. Would you please let us use the bridge to rest in Saria?"

"Of course, give it a minute to come across," one said as another went to a panel of levers to start the mechanism. "But please be careful. We've had a lot of spies from Ganon enter towns disguised as humans. But they wouldn't be able to imitate the sign of the Shiekah clan."

"Or the Triforce," the other pointed out. "So you must be trustworthy."

A loud clattering sound came from outside as the bridge was moved into place. Once they were across, the bridge was pulled back up for the night. Impa said that she knew of a good inn, so she led the way through Saria's streets.

It was a whole different world to Link's eyes. The streets were paved with stone, with holes in the side, presumably for catching rain. And everywhere he looked, there were tall buildings made of stone and brick, decorated with boxes of plants and carved designs. On metal posts, there were lanterns that seemed to burn oil or magic, keeping the streets lit without being too smokey. There were signs with fancy lettering that marked permanent shops, doing well enough that they could specialize in goods rather than taking whatever they could like those in southern Hyrule. People were out despite the falling night, talking, laughing, and even singing, as they were not worried about the terrors outside of town. So this was what the world without tyranny was like.

If one were traveling in southern Hyrule and needed to stay in another town, they usually were taken in as a guest by a willing local. Sometimes permanent stores would have a small room or two for such visitors. Here, there was three large buildings (that he'd seen) that would take care of a traveler in need of rest. The one they entered had a dining hall past the entrance room, and what seemed to be a large kitchen behind it. Impa and Zelda negotiated getting a room to sleep in and meals for each of them.

The meal the inn had that night was roast Cuccuu, roasted potatoes, slices of bread, and cooked green beans, all covered in gravy made from the Cuccuu. It was good gravy, although perhaps they didn't need to use so much of it to cover everything else. Once they were done eating, Zelda and Impa went upstairs to sleep. Link wasn't that tired, so he went outside to observe the streets and the people of Saria for a little while. The innkeeper told him they would lock up at midnight, which was plenty of time for him.

So different here. Link stopped by a nearby shop, which turned out to be a bakery. And that's all it did, bake breads and pastries. Milk had been a luxury to him, but here, there was a sign stating that they would have cheesecakes for sale this week. Cheesecake, they were safe and prosperous enough here that they could make an excess of cakes out of cheese instead of using cheese sparingly and trying to keep it unnoticed from tax collecting monsters. He wasn't sure if he could get used to a life like that.

Then a shout broke through the streets. "Stop! Stop that thief!" There was a man in dark blue clothes that was running his way, holding onto a fancy bag that seemed more suited for a lady.

Acting quickly, Link grabbed hold of the man as he passed by, stopping him in his tracks. "What do you want?" he snarled, glowering at him. Then his eyes caught sight of the golden Triforce, and turned red like flames. "You're the one who slew the master," he said, his voice twisting as his body did the same, turning red and leathery. Horns grew out of his head, claws grew from his hands and feet, and his clothes turned into ragged wings. "I will kill you for Ganon!"

A monster, one of Ganon's spies. Link threw the demon across the street as people around him shouted and froze in fright. As he drew out his sword, the demon tried to rush at him and claw his neck to shreds. The Master Sword flashed through the air, cutting it down before it could even get close. Once its body hit the ground, it rapidly dissolved into dust, leaving the lady's bag behind. Since he was in a town, Link returned his sword to its sheath. Maybe these people did have a life of luxury, but they didn't react fast enough to last long in southern Hyrule.

One of the women stepped out of the crowd. "Oh my goodness, thank you," she said. "I've never seen anyone destroy them that fast, not even the town guards."

Link shrugged, then picked up the bag and handed it to her. The people around them decided to move away, getting back to enjoying the night. There must not have been many such spies, at least in their minds.

"You even got him before he disappeared with my purse," she said, clutching it close. "I've got too many important things inside to lose it. I'd like to do something for you... wait, you seem to be a traveler. Do you know magic? I've been studying spells and I could pass one to you if you have a spellbook."

Given that he only had one spell, a new one would be handy. He brought out the spellbook he had and opened it up, showing it to her.

"Not much of a talker, huh?" She looked at the book. "Only one spell? But, your sword must be enough to take care of you. Oh, I know, you should have a healing spell." She brought a similar spell book out of her purse and flipped through a number of pages. They were all imprinted with spells. "And... here, this one is good for a beginner, and reliable enough that even masters will keep using it." She ran her fingers down the page, quietly speaking magic words. Then she did the same action to his spellbook, leaving the spell behind. "That should do. Thanks again, and I hope your travels are successful." She then put her spellbook away.

At that point, one of the city guards came up. "What's going on here? Is this man causing you trouble?"

She shook her head. "No, he helped me." After explaining that he had taken care of the thief and spy, the matter seemed to be settled. The lady and the guardsman then headed off their separate ways.

A healing spell. Link read over the instructions. 'Life- A spell to restore the life energy of one who is wounded. Don't try to use it if you're not injured, as it'll just be a waste. But when you are in need, this spell will be your helping healing hand.' He did have a wound still from the fight with the axe beast, so he brought out his magic rod and thought of the spell word for Life. The air shimmered around him, speeding up the healing of the wound like the touch of a fairy's magic. It was only a pink mark when the spell was done.

That would definitely be something he wanted to memorize. As he couldn't speak, there didn't seem much else to do, so he went back to the inn. In the room they were sharing, Zelda was already fast asleep while Impa was checking over the room's defenses. There was a screen in the room, so he quietly moved that to block off one of the beds and give the women their privacy. Then he prepared to sleep himself.

* * *

 

In the morning, Impa went out to see about getting a ride back to the castle. Link stayed in the inn room with Zelda. He had found a book on one of the shelves and passed some time reading it. While it was more difficult that what he was used to, there did seem to be useful information about northern Hyrule in it.

Impa came back as Zelda had gotten up; she was sitting on her bed brushing her hair, the screen now pushed back against the wall so Link could keep an eye out for trouble. "One of the knights here has agreed to take us back to North Castle on his stagecoach," she told them. "We should go downstairs for some breakfast so we can meet up with him and leave soon."

"My hair's still messy, isn't it?" Zelda asked. "Well, as long as it's good enough for travel. It's not like I had the things for a proper look all this time."

"Your parents will be glad just to see you safe and alive," Impa said.

After having a breakfast of eggs, ham, toast, and a fruit salad, they checked out of the inn and headed to the main road leaving Saria. The sky had clouded over during the night, the air chilled. At the town gate, there was an enclosed wagon painted in red and gold. A crest of some sort, possibly belonging to a noble family, had been placed on both doors leading into the stagecoach. Two strong brown horses had already been hooked up and someone was checking on the wheels to make sure they were okay.

A man greeted them. He wore leather armor that had been dyed red, with the crest from the wagon painted on the chest in white. His leggings were black, but from the thickness they seemed to be armored. At his side, there was a sword with a white handle; he certainly looked big and muscular enough to be a force to be reckoned with in battle. His name was Bagu and he seemed to know Impa well.

"Monsters on the road haven't changed all that much," he said. "There are bandits too, but they know my sign and are unlikely to target us. My worry is it's looking to snow and we don't know how treacherous that will be."

"If we go quickly before it starts, I think we'll be fine," Impa said. "Would it bother you much if the three of us were to ride inside while you stay out and watch for monsters? Link here is a capable young man, but if they see the Triforce, they'll become reckless and aggressive trying to kill him. And I'm sorry, but as the princess' handmaiden, it's my duty to not leave her in the company of a young man for long, at her age."

"Oh, Impa," Zelda said, but then laughed.

Bagu chuckled. "I know how it is. It's no trouble to me, especially if it makes us less prone to attack. If you have no more business here in Saria, let's head out."

There wasn't anything that needed to be done, although Link would have liked to see the city at work for a little while. Maybe sometime in the future, when his life wasn't in as much risk. Zelda and Impa went into the coach first, taking the back bench. Then Link got in and sat opposite them. There was some padding, but the seats were stiff and the room fairly small. Once they left town, the horses took to a brisk pace, jostling the passengers steadily. Maybe it was faster, but it wasn't a comfortable ride. Besides, Link wasn't sure how long he could stand sitting in one spot for a long time.

On the other side, Zelda was relaxing. "I'm glad we got a ride," she said. "After the past few weeks, I don't know how much longer I want to walk. And it would have taken us days to get across the grasslands and the marsh, especially if the snow and ice start sticking."

"It would have been easier travel than through Death Mountain, if longer so we avoid the swamp," Impa said. "Although Link, you'll have to go into there at some time in the future."

A swamp? Would it be like the shallows at the sea, with mud to trudge through? Link touched the Triforce, thinking it might have something to do with that.

"Since we've got time to spend, I may as well tell you about the last piece of the Triforce," Impa said. "Have you heard the story about why the princess of Hyrule is always named Zelda?"

Link shrugged, giving a hand sign that meant maybe. Gran had told him a story like that, but he let Impa tell that story again. It was much the same, about the young King who had Ganon as a servant of the Court, how Ganon had tried to get information about the Triforce from the King, and then from the Princess Zelda. The King and Ganon had fought, but the latter put the princess to sleep and fled to southern Hyrule to find the Triforce.

After that, there were some new things. "When the Triforce splintered at Ganon's touch, one piece flew all the way to North Castle," Impa said. "Ganon and his forces attacked the castle once they learned it was there, but then the King's daughter Zelda went in to visit the sleeping princess one day. The older Zelda had managed to speak to her niece in a vision, asking her to bring the piece of Courage to her. They tried to use it to awaken her, but that failed. To get Ganon's forces to stop attacking, the older Zelda then sent the piece to an ancient place, the Mountain Palace in the Valley of Death."

Zelda then spoke up. "And the reason she did that was because of how Ganon had put the curse on her. The curse was transformed into a monster, known as the Thunderbird, and it was sent to nest in Mountain Palace. Then, Ganon sealed off the palace by raising six Temples of Death throughout northern Hyrule. As long as the Temples of Death stand, then no one but the Thunderbird can enter or leave. But then Thunderbird can't touch the Triforce because of its nature as a curse, so Ganon can't get it either."

Impa nodded. "To get the last piece of the Triforce, you need to enter Mountain Palace to find it, and kill the Thunderbird. And to get there, you need to bring down the six temples. One of them lies in the swamp north of here. We have been told that to take down Ganon's temples, a holy crystal needs to be placed in the shrine that maintains them. We know how to make the crystals, but no one has been strong enough to destroy all the temples."

"There's a few who managed to take down one or two," Zelda said. "But if they are not all taken down within one year, they are able to remake themselves. You've already traveled through many dungeons held by Ganon and his followers, so you should be able to accomplish this."

But Impa had one more warning. "I would advise that you wait until spring. Travel in northern Hyrule during winter is dangerous, even to experienced travelers. Plus, we will need some time to craft six holy crystals so the temples can be destroyed. You can use that time to train with the castle knights, if you wish."

So that was what he had to face now, a challenge that had been around for a hundred years that no one had been able to complete. Time to prepare would be good. But what about the castle residents? Would they be safe with him around? He didn't know how many forces of Ganon's still lurked the countryside and if they would be able to mass an attack just to get him.

He nodded, though. There was no sense in leaving his quest unfinished, and in not repaying the other Zelda for her help. He would just have to avoid getting the notice of Ganon's servants during this winter.

"It's too bad that you had to come here at the start of winter," Zelda said, looking out the window. The grassland out there was a light brown; a hard frost must have already come through here. "The snow is pretty the first few days, but it quickly becomes cold and dreary. I think the countryside looks best in late spring and summer, when all the grasses are green and the flowers are blooming."

He shrugged and gave a smile. That's just how winter was. Back home, the main concern was changes in the behavior of fish and keeping enough preserved foods to keep through the cold dark days ahead.


	13. A Celebration in North Castle

By the time they reached North Castle, snow was coming down thick. With their travel cloaks to protect them, Link, Zelda, and Impa left the stable and hurried for the main castle. It was a beautiful place, even if stern with its thick walls and protective armaments. It was built entirely of white stones, given a balanced and elegant form. Large windows filled with colored glass appeared to be many, illustrating past heroes, kings, queens, and legends. High above on the central tower, there was an emblem that resembled the Triforce, winged with a protective shield. The same symbol had been painted on the large wooden doors that led inside.

Word was passing quickly through the castle of Zelda's return. The guards saluted the group as they passed by. The servants looked in wonder and gossiped with each other. As they walked through the entrance, the bells began to ring to officially tell everyone that something big was going on. After asking one of the servants where the King and Queen were, they headed into the throne room where many people were waiting for an audience with royalty. It seemed anyone could ask for such a meeting, as Link saw peasants as poor as his own family was waiting with nobles who were dressed in finery and jewels.

But when they entered, the servants moved ahead to let them pass through quickly. Zelda ran up the last few feet, beaming. "Mother, father!" she called, going up to hug the Queen. "I'm back."

The Queen smiled widely, starting to tear up a little. "Oh, my darling, you're alive. We had heard rumors, but it's so good to see you in person."

"Wonderful," the King said, smiling and getting up to hug her too. "You've brought a ray of sunshine back to us."

Impa indicated that Link should follow her, then went up the stairs and crossed her arm over her chest while bowing. "Queen Zelda, King Harland, we have come back from southern Hyrule after the defeat of the evil warlock Ganon. And this young man would be the hero who defeated him and rescued us both: Link of Waterfront."

How did one act to a king and queen? Link had a feeling that he should be extra respectful, but he wasn't sure how to show that. Not knowing what else to do, he took off his hat and bowed to them.

Queen Zelda got up and came over to take his hand. "Link, we give you our eternal gratitude for not only saving our daughter, but also defeating the tyrant that threatened to corrupt the entirety of Hyrule. Thank you. If there's anything we can do for you, simply ask and we will give it to you."

Anything? But, he didn't need much and enjoyed a simple life. Instead, he put his hand to the Triforce. He still had a long way to go.

"He is silent, but I believe all that he wants is to meet with the elder Zelda and prepare to finish the rest of his quest," Impa said.

The Queen nodded. "Then we will do all that we can to help."

Once the general meeting was over, Link met with the royal family in private. Through hand gestures and what Impa knew, they managed to discuss what had occurred, what danger there was left, and what still needed to be done. They were worried to hear about the way to resurrect Ganon, although this made them agree quickly to giving him extra training over the winter. There was, at one point, the offer of marrying the red-haired Zelda, but Link turned that down as politely as he could. She was a good girl, but not the one he wanted.

That evening, Impa and the Princess Zelda brought him to a distant part of the castle. Down in the basement's first level, there was a stone tunnel that led to an entirely separate building. Parts of it looked familiar to Link, especially when they unlocked the doors at the end and ascended into the single room building. It had the solemn look of a mausoleum, but instead of a tomb, it held a single beautiful bed kept clean and tidy. And sleeping there was the brown-haired Zelda. Her face was fair and resembled the other two strongly. But other than the rise and fall of her chest, she was completely still. At the head of the bed, seven black circles maintained a spiteful magic keeping her asleep.

"This is Aunt Zelda," the princess said. "Sometimes her image appears and she speaks to us. I'll try to reach her." She then clasped her hands at her chest and bowed her head.

"It's been a hundred years, but she never changes," Impa said. "She looks the same as when I first saw her, and my grandmother said that she looked the same all of her years."

Ganon's magic was that powerful, Link thought. And this had been done before he got a hold of the Triforce. Perhaps her link with the Thunderbird kept her ageless state, as so many other enchantments had been undone in Ganon's death.

Then the elder Zelda's spirit appeared at her bedside, standing with them. "You've all returned," she said. "Much of Ganon's work has been undone, it is true. But there is still more out there that could plague our land for years to come. His enchantments could be unraveled one by one, but our best chance is reuniting the Triforce."

"That's what I thought," Impa said. "I've already told Link of where the last piece is, and what must be done to find it and free you of your curse."

"Will you do it, then?" she asked, looking to him.

He nodded. There was no question about it, no doubts in his mind. It would be dangerous, but he was already a wanted man among Ganon's forces. Better that he risk it than another who did not know what they were getting into.

The elder Zelda smiled at him. "That's wonderful. I'll be glad to see Hyrule restored to what it was when I was a girl. Link, I hope you find what your heart desires."

Link smiled back. Maybe that was the person who stood in front of him in spirit. He just hoped it wouldn't cause grief for anyone else.

* * *

 

The next day, there was a grand celebration in North Castle in honor of the princess' return and his defeat of Ganon. There was a large feast that seemed to last all afternoon, with many entertainers coming in to amuse the guests and the royal family. There was a whole roasted cow served on a single platter, amazing Link in that it had been freshly killed and cooked starting almost from the moment he had arrived. Along with that, there were many little dishes for a wide range of tastes, even including one of those cheesecakes that he tried a small piece of. Even though it seemed like an extravagant amount to him, everyone else called it good and ate much. Zelda told his story for him, remembering much of what the fairy had said back in Waterfront. After that was done, the Queen called him forward and had him knighted for his great deeds.

That was a surprise, but Impa had got a hold of him a few minutes before and told him of what he had to do. He knelt in front of her, taking off his hat and looking up to her. With an ancient sword that was inscribed with the crest of the royal family of Hyrule, she put the blade to his neck. It was a test and a show of loyalty, obedience, and bravery, so he kept still when it touched him.

"Young man, recognized in your courage, wisdom, and power," Queen Zelda said, keeping the blade on him, "we honor your noble spirit by granting you the rank of knighthood. As a knight of Hyrule, you are to protect its peoples and respect its lands, all under the grace of the Goddesses. If you are willing to devote your life to this, take the blade in your hands and place it over your heart."

Using both hands, he did as instructed to accept the oath. In most cases, it had to be spoken. They already knew that he could not speak, so this action would be accepted the same as the usual oath. When she nodded to accept it, he let go of the blade so that she could move it without cutting him. Its edges were still sharp in spite of its years. He recalled the knight statues he had seen in the graveyard area and wondered if the men and women represented there had touched that very same blade.

The queen then rested the blade on his head. "Thus, with the people as witnesses and the Goddesses as authority over all, I name thee Sir Link, knight of Hyrule. Rise and meet with your people." She then pulled the sword away as he got up to turn and bow to the people assembled there. They cheered in approval of this.

In the evening, there was a dance in the ballroom. Out of courtesy, he escorted Princess Zelda from the dining hall to the ballroom. He declined to dance with her, though, or any of the women who offered. Watching the dancers out there, he admired their grace and teamwork. But there seemed to be a definite method to it that he did not know.

There was excitement and happiness in the air, although Link felt awkward there. It was the same with many other large gatherings. People would be gathered in groups, talking and laughing together, and then there he was, not able to join in. And it wasn't often that he was the center of attention at an event like this. Not only that but in the past few months, getting attention would mean getting attacked, so he had to mentally tell himself that he was fine here without his gear and that there was no reason to be defensive.

It became a bit much to deal with, so Link slipped out of the ballroom and away from the crowds. Going outside seemed to be the thing to do, as it was snowing enough to keep most people indoors. But the cold air was refreshing to him, with the scent of snow and trees instead of sweat and perfume. They could enjoy the celebration while he found solitude again.

But, he wasn't alone for long. The brown-haired Zelda appeared there, even visualizing herself in a fancier version of her violet dress, this one with ruffles and pearls. As a spirit, she wouldn't be affected by the cold. "Good evening," she said. "Such celebrations can be wonderful, but they don't happen often. And most of them are planned for weeks in advance, so this was actually not as elaborate as it could be. Maybe in the future you can relax and enjoy them."

This wasn't elaborate? It might be fun if he could feel as safe as these people. And they had been waiting a long time for the return of the red-haired Zelda, so the celebration was deserved by them. Link wasn't sure what to think about it.

"I'm sure you'll have a reason to celebrate like this one day," the elder Zelda said. "Do you know how to dance? I can show you." She came over to him and put her hands on his. "Might be a little tough when we can't really touch... bring your hands up. One should hold onto your partner's hand, and the other should rest on their waist. That's about right. Now we need to move together, left foot first."

It was harder this way, as he felt nothing but the cold air and she could pass through him if they didn't move together right. And yet, it didn't matter if the dance didn't work out. Without the pressure of the crowd around them, he could not worry about potential dangers and just have some fun. He tried his best, but it was nicer to look into her eyes rather than pay attention to the steps. It would have been a delight if it was more than just her spirit, though.

But it made her happier. "I haven't done more than just dream of moments like this in many years," Zelda said. "But projecting myself like this is tiring and I need to keep some energy for resisting the spirit of Ganon." She put her hand to his cheek. "I'll be waiting for a time when I can do this in person. Good night." Then she vanished into the cold night.

He would be waiting too. But as he stood there savoring the moment, a movement came out of the corner of his eye. He tensed and turned to face it, in case it was one of Ganon's forces. Instead, it turned out to be the younger princess Zelda, in the passage to the balcony. Link wondered for a moment what to do, then went inside and pulled aside the curtain where she was hiding.

She blushed. "Oh, um, sorry! I was wondering where you went. And I saw you two..." She looked aside, out the window to the balcony. "Did you meet her before? It looked like you were both having fun out there."

Not wanting to cause trouble, he nodded. He made some of his signs, about how they had met in the dungeons. But in this exchange, he had no certain way to tell her that it wasn't that he disliked her. More that the elder Zelda meant more to him.

"I think... she helped you before and talked to you, and that's how you came to like her." Zelda bit her lip, swaying nervously. "I guess I can understand that. It was just, when I was imprisoned, I thought that maybe a handsome hero would come save me and we'd end up getting married, like in so many of the old stories. I was lonely and scared a lot. But then, she has been imprisoned in sleep for much longer than I was behind that fire." She then made a quick bow. "Oh, I hope I'm not a bother. Can, can we still be friends? She's been close to me too, and taught me many things. I've always wanted to help her out."

That was better. Link clasped her hand and shook it, nodding. It would be good to have her as a friend.

"Thanks," she said. "I hope I can find someone I really love one day... oops, um, I mean I hope we can all be happy in the future." Zelda smiled. "They're going to have some people who dance with swords in a little while. You should come see them; it's really impressive."

Dancing with swords? It seemed a waste of a talent, but then again, maybe it helped them fight. Link went back into the ballroom with Zelda to go see that.

* * *

 

The normal routine of the castle was busy, but not as lavish as the celebration had been. The King, Queen, and Princess took afternoon audiences in the throne room to deal with disputes, requests, and other matters. Other times, Link saw them around the castle, working and practicing to do what was needed to run the kingdom. There were many servants, keeping the castle clean, the fires burning, the food ready, and the guests served. Even he had a manservant assigned to assist him, although the most Link needed was someone who could interpret his signs. He could take care of his things himself, so there were times when he tried to tell Theo that he could be a servant somewhere else for a time.

Most days, Link trained with the palace guard. The other knights were willing to help him with most of what he had: his sword, shield, bow, boomerang, and even the bombs, he learned more about them and practiced. When it came to magic, there were fewer people around who could help. There was an old wizard who gave him some instruction, but the only new spells he learned were Shield which increase his defense (with or without the rings) and Jump which allowed him to jump far higher than humanly possible and land safely afterwards. Most of the time when he met with the wizard, his teacher was more concerned with refining his focus and control to prevent accidents and miscasts.

"That's important, even with that Life spell you have," the wizard told him many times. "People have been known to kill themselves with a mispronounced healing spell. I suppose you don't have to worry about that, but casting by thought alone is trickier than vocal casting when it comes to mistakes."

On a few days when he wasn't training, Link studied about the Temples of Death and checked in with the castle's high priest on the progress with the holy crystals. He had gotten a map of northern Hyrule from the librarian, so was able to mark the locations of the temples there. They were quite spread out. Two were in northwestern Hyrule where North Castle was, three were in northeastern Hyrule, and one was in the bay between them. And approximately in the center of them all, the Mountain Palace was in a place that the map noted as very dangerous. The Valley of Death was done in much less detail than the lands surrounding it. But seeing them on the map, he could plan out a path to take.

He didn't see much of the younger Princess Zelda, as she had to return to her studies for when she inherited the throne. He did make a habit of going to visit the elder Princess Zelda daily. Sometimes she appeared, but most days she did not. When he came back to the main palace from visiting her, Link liked to go onto the castle walls and observe the winter landscape. When would it be the right time for him to leave?

One day when the sky was clear and the snow wasn't as thick on the ground, Princess Zelda invited him to join her for her horse riding lessons. "You have a long ways to go, and a horse would help you travel better," she said.

Link had considered it, but he wasn't sure. Listening in to the travelers and stablehands, he knew that horses were big targets for thieves; they rode their horses hard and often lost them to injuries. Not only that, but traveling with a horse meant that he had to consider caring for it and figuring out what to do with it when he was exploring the dark temples. Most horses, it seemed, were not comfortable being inside buildings.

Still, he felt it was worth a try. Zelda picked out her favorite horse, a pretty red-brown mare named Epona, and rode her in the snowy courtyard. The stablemaster brought out another one of the horses for Link to ride. "Get your left foot in the stirrup, then pull yourself into the saddle," he said. "And keep hold of the bridle."

He followed the instructions, but the horse picked up on his nervousness; she paced around while he was trying to get himself settled. The horse did calm down when the stablemaster put his hand on her neck, but Link still wasn't sure about this. Listening to the instructor, he was able to get the horse to walk around the courtyard without him falling off her (which he considered pretty lucky). But he noticed that the horse wasn't well protected if a monster were to come attack him while he was riding, and it took all of his attention to guide her and stay on. Zelda talked about a competition in the summer where archers on horseback would shoot at targets while trying to complete a race, working to be both accurate and fast. Maybe if he had years of experience, he'd be willing to give it a try. But at the time, he only had a month until spring, not long enough for his liking.

Much as a horse might have sped things up, he decided it would work better if he just traveled on foot as usual.

* * *

 

Shortly before the beginning of spring, Ganon's forces came for him.

It was around three dozen winged demons, similar to the one he had fought in Saria. The castle guard was able to take out many of them, but their goal was clear when they dove for the practice yard he was in, ignoring all else in favor of killing him. With the practice sword he had in hand, he forced space between him and the demons. This weapon had no edge, but he was able to run from the mob and grab the nearest edged weapon, a two-handed sword. It was heavier than he was used to and slower to swing than the Master Sword, but the demons were more cautious not to get close with it in hand.

And he wasn't alone this time. The castle guards who had been at practices went to grab their regular swords and fought off the demons as well. After a few minutes, the practice yard was clear of monsters. Looking up, Link saw a couple more flying overhead. But they opted to fly away to report instead of come down to try their luck.

The sword master who had been supervising the practice came over to him. "If it's time for them to be on the move, it's time for you to be on the move too."

Link nodded and put the two-handed sword back. He spotted Theo stepping out of the doorway and waved him over. As there was still much of the day left, he needed to get his things, stock up on supplies, and then head out before the forces of Ganon attempted another attack at North Castle, risking the lives of everyone else here.

Having gotten to know people around the castle, he was able to pick up a couple of healing potions, some more bombs, a good amount of travel food and water, and some pegs and rope to replace in his tent gear. At the chapel, he found that the high priest was finished with the six holy crystals, so he accepted those and gave his silent thanks. He got all of his things out of his room, including the map of northern Hyrule, then had to get Theo to stay in the castle and not follow him. But he did bring the manservant with him to meet with the King, Queen, and Princess one last time before leaving.

"We heard what happened a little while ago," the Queen said. "This means that you're heading out to find the Temples of Death."

He nodded, adding some signs of explanation.

"He doesn't wish to be a danger to others, and Ganon has said that his forces will hurt anyone helping him and stop at nothing to get rid of him," Theo translated. "He needs to leave before a larger attack force appears at the castle."

The Queen bowed her head. "Thank you for being considerate to the safety of the people. I will send messengers out to the towns, letting them know who you are and that they are to assist you in your quest. Please, wear your crest as a knight of Hyrule, so that they know it is you. We wish you the best of luck, and good speed in your efforts."

"We'll be waiting for your return, when things are safer," Princess Zelda added.

Link bowed to them, then waved and took his leave. After thinking over his plans and making sure that there was nothing left to do here, he headed out the main gate and onto the road. He was back on his own again, needing to keep on the move. However, he did feel stronger and better prepared for what he needed to do.


	14. Death of Everything

He camped by a fork in the road. From where he was, he could see the town of Rauru to the south. Following the road north would eventually bring him to Ruto Town. But he needed nothing now, and the palace he was looking for was past the forest to the east, where the roads would not go. There were monstrous spiders and Moblins in the forest, but they were nothing new and he could pass by them easily.

At the edge of the forest, he came to a tunnel in a large cliff of rocks. This was the way he needed to go, but the tunnel was dim even with Naryu's blessing. An enchantment of darkness hung over the area, although few monsters were hiding inside. Or perhaps he simply didn't run across them; he nearly tripped over one, a soft-shelled beast known as a Lowder. It didn't seem to be one of the intelligent ones, not even enough to recognize the Triforce. But it did evaporate into smoke like all other beasts that Ganon had created, so he would have to watch out for them.

It was a short tunnel, not far from the thick forest and wide grasslands. But when he stepped back out into daylight, the land was flat and white for a great distance. Salty sand was almost all there was past the rock outcropping he had passed through. To the northeast, he could see a building, surrounded in a haze caused by the sun reflecting off the harsh land. Did the presence of the temple cause death around it? The look of this landscape suggested so much. There were no signs of normal life.

He didn't even encounter many monsters out here. There were tall white cactus that rose and shrank as he passed by; their tips had gnashing teeth and sometimes they spat an energy ball attack at him. That was easy enough to deflect with his shield, but certainly there'd be something dangerous in the temple.

After walking for several minutes, Link glanced back and saw that the rocky area had retreated. But the temple seemed just as far away as it had been when he left. Was this some enchantment, or just a trick of perception? With a lack of landmarks, it was hard to tell. It shouldn't be an enchantment, or else he would see it. Just in case, he took out his sword and cut an 'X' into the ground. If he passed it again, then there was an enchantment he couldn't see.

The 'X' didn't reappear, so it was just a trick of the flat desert. The temple did seem a little closer, so he continued on. For a little while, he must have zoned out because a movement of red snapped him to attention. Link stopped and saw a number of red streaks moving, perhaps not too far away. They were coming his way.

Then, a flurry of flying fireballs enveloped the area he was in. Most were slow, but a few fast flying ones were in the mix. Link ran towards the temple, doing his best to jump over or dodge the fireball storm. Looking around, he could tell that the fireballs were magic but not where they were coming from. Were they just flying around in a cluster? Or was this some kind of natural magic storm?

He got out of it with little more than some singed hair and a mild burn on his cheek. He wasn't sure if that was enough to heal up or if he should reserve his supplies and spells for later. On touching it, it just seemed sensitive and not bleeding, so he left it be. The temple was noticeably getting closer now.

After a few minutes, he was standing at the stone steps leading into the temple. It was an open building, with grand columns holding up a massive stone roof and sand all over the floor. In the center, there was an enclosed room, but small in comparison with the rest. At the top of the few stairs, there were three statues of Ironknuckles keeping a silent watch.

The central Ironknuckle statue had a sign under it, so Link went up the stairs to get close enough to read it. What it said was troubling: 'Temple of the Death of Everything'. Why would someone make a temple to that? The books had said these temples were all dedicated to death, and Ganon had been the one to create them. Link hadn't thought that Ganon was after death. But then, he had no way to know what Ganon had really wished for when he touched the Triforce a century ago.

Well, he was here to bring the temple down, so getting rid of that disturbing sign was a new bonus. As he walked to the enclosed room, he felt that there had to be something more to this. It couldn't be as easy as getting into that room and finding the shrine. Given how random dungeons in southern Hyrule had been full of monsters, Ganon had to have left guardians here to keep his curse on the princess intact.

And he was right. The room held an elevator, not a shrine. Link entered and flipped the switch to descend; it was shaky and showered him with the salty sand from outside, but still dropped him down into the main part of the temple underground. Built of gray stone blocks and lit by magic torches, he found two tunnels to take from the elevator shaft. As well as a strange hyena creature and charged for him with a short sword and a howl. It was dispatched quickly, but Link decided to shift his bow to be in easy reach to resize it and use fast.

He went south first, following the base of the entrance above. That turned out to be a dead end full of easy Bot gel monsters and skilled Stalfos that had their own swords and shields. At least the dead end appeared quickly; he returned north and followed that passageway instead. The Stalfos and Bots seemed numerous, although those charging hyenas were there too.

On pausing a moment after clearing a room, he noticed that the walls were not as plain as regular dungeons. They were only black drawings on the gray walls, but there was a large scene made onto every wall in this room, wrapping around him. What it was appeared to be an illustration of the name of this temple, the death of everything. There were massive storm clouds that rained down fireballs, much like the moving cluster he had encountered outside. Giant monsters burst out of the earth, ripping through helpless people and fighting something that seemed to be coming out of the firestorm cloud.

And by the door he was going through, there was some writing that had been done large, with a flourish. 'Apocalypse, when the gods wage war without heeding the lives of those who worship them. How benevolent are the divine beings who you ask for blessings and guidance every day? Can you truly answer this question? Or do you only hope for benevolence and fear a slumbering figure of maliciousness?'

Link shook his head to that. He had heard the voices of the Goddesses. He had felt and seen the affects of their blessings. But then, how many people managed to get their attention? Maybe this was a doubt of someone who had never heard such a thing.

As he moved on and continued to clear the temple of monsters, he noticed that there were more drawings on the wall. Not as much writing, but the scenes were similar. A great flood wiping out the land here, a mutilating pestilence overtaking the population there. Seeing this all, he hoped that this place was left alone by ordinary people and not actually used for worship, or whatever the equivalent was for such death-seeking.

He found another elevator, but it was missing the level that operated it. Maybe the shrine was down there? And the lever would have been taken to make it harder to get there. Hoping to find the lever elsewhere, he continued on northward. A couple of rooms down, he found a third elevator at the end of the northward passage. The small room it was in was surrounded by pictures of little demons, while the wall behind it had a very large message scrawled on in in shaky letters. 'DESPAIR, FOR DEATH AWAITS ALL.'

The message caused him to shiver. True, everyone would die. But, that didn't seem to be reason enough to despair. What was the point of all this? Doing his best to ignore the drawings, Link got on the elevator and found that it did have a lever, as well as three levels it could access. He went to the top level first.

It did not send him above ground, but to a tunnel that was not much taller than he was. It continued the message of despair with demon drawings. At the end of the tunnel, he encountered a one eyed red golem that hurled a warhammer at him. Link dropped down to avoid getting hit by it, taking out his bow and firing at the golem's eye. This caused the golem to scream and throw another hammer at him, but high again so that it passed over Link's head harmlessly. Running in while it was blinded, Link stabbed it with his sword to finish it off.

There was a dead end with an Ironknuckle statue, but at its feet, he found two things: an elevator lever and a tiny fairy that was smaller than any of his fingers. It wore a gown that seemed to be made from the golem's hide and its pink glow trembled. Sitting by the lever, it didn't even seem to notice him. Maybe it was disturbed by being in this place. Link remembered when he first met Impa, seeing her release a fairy from a bottle; he'd done that a couple times himself. But all of his bottles had potions in them. He picked it up gingerly and watched it for a moment. When it didn't react, he put it in his shirt pocket, hoping that it wouldn't get hurt there. Then he went to the elevator and decided to ride down to the lowest level before he checked out the broken one.

At first, there was a small hallway like the one above, but there seemed to be a larger room past it. There were no drawings down here, but the writing was everywhere. It didn't take him long to notice that it was all saying the same three lines. 'Everything will end. The time of the end is unknown. There is no heaven, only hell and death.'

When he entered the large room, he noticed a pair of Ironknuckles waiting for him. Not a statue, an actual monster Ironknuckles. But these were different than what he was used to. Both had orange armor that entirely covered their body, not a gap to be seen aside from slits in their helmets to see from. They carried small iron shields and iron swords. On seeing him, they both got up and began to walk towards him.

They didn't speak to him, but they definitely knew how to use their shields better than the Stalfos, moving them as he tried to strike with his sword. Those shields seemed impenetrable, but once he managed to get past that, he realized that the armor wasn't as strong. Its chest plate had come off completely in just one hit. While another hit dispatched that one, the other wasn't giving him an easy shot at its armor. Link ended up pulling out a bomb to get rid of it; thankfully its shield wasn't explosive-proof.

Once they were gone, he found a locked door opposite the elevator hall. His lion key worked on it just as well as any other dungeon lock, so he passed into a smaller room that had a raised dais on it. But there was only a piece of paper there. A map, or part of a torn book? Link took it and read over it. 'Light- A spell to illuminate any darkness, handy for midnight beer runs. Not exactly blinding, but still might be stunning in total darkness.'

Smiling a little at the sense of humor someone had, he got out his spell book and figured out how to copy it in there. Since the room had a torch, he went back to the larger room to take out his magic rod and give it a try. It certainly made the room brighter, in a large dome surrounding him. Maybe a handy way to have light without risking a fire from his candle? But he could see decently enough, so it'd be more useful in places with enchanted darkness like the tunnel here.

Then, the fairy flew out of his pocket and hovered in front of him. "That light, it is born from a pure heart. You... oh, no, no no no!" He fell out of the air in fright.

Link had to move quick to catch the fairy on his spellbook. Wondering what set it off, he looked around again for a hint. But it turned out to be something big. The messages had all been in small writing here, but they had been shaped in such a way in this room to make an even bigger message across the room. 'In case you didn't get the message, the end of everything is death! -Horsehead.'

Horsehead. He didn't know how fairies named themselves, or even if they did, but he doubted the one he had was called Horsehead. So there was something else in the temple making all those pictures and messages. Maybe the guardian Ganon had left. Whoever had done this, it would be much better to turn this place to dust.

The fairy shifted on the book. "You mean to destroy this place?" he asked weakly. "That's good, this place is so depressing that you can go insane. I don't even know how long I've been here."

It was certainly somewhere Link would hate to get stuck in. Letting the fairy know that he could stick with him, he waited until the fairy settled on his shoulder to put his spellbook and rod up. With no more paths, it was time to go back to that broken elevator and find the shrine to this place.

Either some of the monsters had come back or others had replaced them, but Link had a few more fights to get past on the way. It wasn't anything new and in fact, it seemed pretty mild for a dungeon aside from the crazy stuff on the wall. He hadn't even gotten hurt enough to use one of his potions or spells. But that could change, he reminded himself as he put the lever back into place and rode down to the new area.

The most immediate change he noticed down here was that the pictures now had color. Mostly black and red, but they were more elaborate than the rest of the temple. Before he could look too closely, he had to deal with the new Ironknuckles... or were they old, made when Ganon had first made this place? There were two more of the orange ones and a red one, along with strange skull bubbles and Stalfos. The fairy stayed on his shoulder, clutching Link's hair to try hiding from the sights around him.

When the room was clear, Link looked over the murals. The theme here seemed to be Hell, with many demons torturing all kinds of beings. Near a scene of some Zoras being chained down in a fiery desert, there was writing to explain it. 'People cannot imagine the death of everything. But everything will end, perhaps in one fell swoop, perhaps in a feast of violence and madness, perhaps in a slow painful fading away. The only thing that awaits you at the end is guilt, regret, and death, the ingredients for hell. Accept this and despair, for that is all you feeble beings can do.'

That wasn't all the peoples of the world could do, Link thought. Life itself was a good enough reason to be glad. He turned from the paintings and went on through the next passage. The sooner this place was gone, the better.

The next room he came to had a grand majestic feeling to it. Heavy pale blue fabric draped along the ceiling with a matching carpet had been placed on the floor. The room was mostly clear save for an area that had various pieces of charcoal, rags, and paint cans, but in the middle of it all stood a monster that fit the name Horsehead. He had the body of a man in a suit of heavy armor, all dark blue with a large mace resting in his right hand. But from the top of the chest came the neck and head of a horse, with a sickly blue-gray appearance and a limp white mane.

Grunting, Horsehead raised his head at Link's entrance. "Hmph. What are you doing here?" He took a few steps forward with a limp in his left leg. "Why did you come so far? Do you accept the death of everything? That is the fate of the world and there's nothing that can be done about it. Come here and I will give you something to help speed the process along so it can all be over."

Link drew the Master Sword, stepping forward defiantly. Maybe the world would end some day, but he wasn't about to hurry that along. He was here to make the world better.

"You must be the silent hero I've heard about from Master Ganon. You have come in here, seen the truths, and still hold onto hope? All hope must be extinguished, so I will give you your end." He then rushed for Link, no longer with a limp in his leg, bringing his spiked mace up to slam into Link's head.

Link dropped and rolled out of the way, getting back to his feet and slashing at Horsehead's side as he did so. This monster's armor seemed better than that of the Ironknuckles, but it didn't cover as fully. Horsehead's head turned faster than his body and he snapped at Link, nearly chomping down the fairy on his shoulder. The fairy squealed and hid under his shirt. Link ignored that and stepped out of the next swing of Horsehead's mace

Seeing a chance, he struck high to hit the beast's head, drawing blood as he did so. But Horsehead changed directions with his mace faster than Link expected, hitting him squarely in the side. The force of the blow was enough to knock him to the ground. On his hand, the blue and red rings were glowing; they seemed to have kept the spikes from digging too deep, but it still hurt. There wasn't time to heal so he got on his feet and prepared to get up.

"Know death and despair!" Horsehead called, bringing his mace over his head.

Link jumped out of the path of the blow, continuing to move back as Horsehead turned his downward swing into a horizontal one. He then jumped back in and slashed him in the back of the neck. From the force of the resistance, he must have hit the beast's spine. And cut deeply, as Horsehead collapsed to his knees, turning to dust.

That was done. Link got out the rod again to use Life, getting rid of the pain from Horsehead's hit, the burn from the fireball swarm, and various smaller injuries he'd taken getting down here. Hopefully that was the guardian of this place. Link moved on to the locked door, using the lion key to get past that.

Behind that door, there was a large black statue with a stern face and empty eyes. A black crystal sat in a slot in its forehead, taking in energy from the temple, renewing it, and sending it back out like an evil heart. Link reached up to take it, but it sent needles of pain all through his hand. He threw it aside, then took a holy crystal out of his depth bag and put it in the empty slot. The infusion of holy energy began to change the magic of the temple, causing it to tremble in instability. Not knowing how long it would take, he called on Farore's blessing to warp him and the fairy out of this place.

Back in the desert flatland, Link watched as the temple collapsed into a heap of stones. But inside the rubble, he could find traces of dark magic remaining. That could be what Zelda and Impa had told him about, that the temples of death could restore themselves if they were not taken down fast enough. He didn't think this would take him a year, but even that wasn't a reason to hesitate on this quest.

The fairy was still hiding in his shirt and his hand still ached from touching the evil crystal. Link tried to use Life again, but that didn't seem to do much for his hand. Maybe it would pass on its own. He turned back towards the rocks that separated this peninsula from the rest of northern Hyrule and headed that way. After all, it didn't seem right to let the fairy go in this place. The sun was beginning to set as he entered the dark tunnel; the Light spell banished the dark aura inside, and did a good job of making the evening forest not as gloomy. He set up camp in the forest, making sure to take out some nuts for part of his dinner.

While he was eating, the fairy emerged from hiding finally. "Sorry," he said, dropping onto Link's bag. "I was so afraid that it was the end of me that I couldn't do anything. But, the temple is gone? Maybe the end isn't so near. But, I don't know. Nobody can know."

Yes, but that was no reason to totally give up hope. Link pulled out a few of the shelled nuts and passed them over to the fairy. Maybe he could find another fairy, or even his family, so that he could be in good company again.

"My parents should still be around," he said, taking a nut. "I was supposed to be finding a place of my own, but that temple was so horrible... I hope they don't mind. Oh, your hand looks terrible... but I don't trust my powers right now."

His hand had gotten worse, now with black splotches over his fingers. He could still move them, but it was a worrying sign. Hopefully the town nearby would have a healer who could help.

"I wish I could do something for you, but I don't know..." he said.

In the morning, the fairy was gone and his hand had become stiff.


	15. Death of Others

The town of Rauru was not as dense as Saria, but it was still bigger than Link's hometown. A few streets were paved, but many were trodden down dirt between the wooden houses. A few trees were around, as well as plenty of grass. There was also a great number of sheep, goats, and cattle here. It seemed that he had come in on a spring livestock market, although some of the signs indicated that the sheep at least were here year round.

Keeping his left hand under his right arm, he searched through the town for a healer. The injury didn't hurt, but it was tough to move his joints and that was his dominant hand. The streets were noisy, with people making deals or discussing plans. A few kids were running around in play and the animals stayed stoic or added their complaints to the hubbub. As a quiet person in the crowd without an animal to sell, he wasn't drawing a lot of notice.

Finally, he found a shop that had a large herb and flower garden, a possible sign of a healer or potion maker. The sign by the door said 'Heals and Balms, reasonable service'. He opened the door and looked around inside for someone to help.

It was quiet in here, with the conversation going on in another room; an orange cat watched him from a bookshelf and a young woman in a plain green dress was dividing up herbs into bags. She looked up, noticed the knight's crest he wore, and curtsied. "Good morning, sir. Is there something you need assistance with? We have lots of good things on sale."

Wondering if they did healing here, he brought his hand out and showed it to her. The black splotches hadn't grown, but he tried to move his fingers to show the trouble. She took his hand and felt his wrist.

Then she frowned. "This is odd, looks bad. What happened?" When he tapped his throat, she went on, "Oh, are you Link? I heard there was a mute knight that was going to be traveling around. Hang on, let me ask about it. Mother, can you come take a look at this? There's some kind of reaction on this man's hand, but I haven't seen something like it and he can't speak."

An older woman dressed in a red cloak came out from the back, followed by a young girl. "I'll see what I can see," the old woman said, checking over his hand herself. "Most of the discoloration is on your fingers. Does it hurt?"

He shook his head, giving what answers he could to her questions. On a thought, he reached into his bag and managed to pull out one of the holy crystals to show to her. Maybe that would be a hint.

She took a look at it and nodded. "Can't be many reasons you'd be carrying around something like that. You touched something of great evil power, something akin to death. Maybe you're looking to be rid of the things, but you should be more careful with them. We can fix this. It'll take a bit of time." When he looked worried, she added, "Not that long, just a couple of hours to soak it out of your skin. Good thing you didn't hold it long, or it would have gotten deep inside and caused major problems. Let me go get some things to start you off with."

The process to heal it was a soak in hot water infused with particular herbs and oils. Link managed to tolerate the heat, but leaving his hand in the bowl and just sitting in the store wasn't his idea of a relaxing moment. While the soak did work at pulling out the death magic, it was harsh, giving him a constant irritating itch. The women would exchange the soak water every fifteen minutes, but they wouldn't let him touch the hand until the discoloration was gone.

It seemed to take more than the two hours she had suggested, but the trick worked: his hand was back to its usual tan color and it was easier for him to move the joints. "You should take this hand cream with you," the older woman said, setting down a small jar labeled 'Peach Softener'. "I know it may seem like a lady's item to you, but that process will dry your hand out like a desert and leave it prone to blisters and scrapes. This will help that."

While he didn't need soft hands, getting blisters from using his gear didn't sound like a good idea either, so he nodded and paid for the treatment and the hand cream. Back in town, he found some street vendors to get some lunch, then headed out of Rauru. He shouldn't need supplies now and he couldn't stay any longer.

* * *

 

It took longer to reach the temple in the marsh, in part because the wetlands were harder to navigate. The mud was deep and just thin enough to move in, albeit slowly and deliberately. The tall grasses grew lushly, making it harder to distinguish land from mud. When the sun went low in the sky, it would be a race between him finding enough dry land or rock to sleep on and the upcoming night. A few trees grew large here, but in time he spotted an object too regular and large to be natural for this place. In the very center of the marsh, there was the Temple of the Death of Others.

At least, that's what the sign on the Ironknuckle statue claimed. It was late and the inside was certain to be dangerous, so Link set up the Orb of Sanctuary and rested under the roof of the temple. The wind blew here, but it brought a smell of decay and rot from the plants nearby. Looking over the land, he noticed that many of the grasses close by were black, although some still struggled to grow. And none of those large marsh trees grew within a hundred yards of this place, not even a young one. Maybe the outer parts of this marsh were natural, but not this place.

That night, he had a series of vivid nightmares. Much of it was set in Waterfront, when the town was being burned and overtaken by Ganon's monsters, including the black Lynel. He could recognize everyone that he saw, from the woman with the baby to the village elder, and even his parents and siblings. He tried to do what he could to save them, but in the dreams, he was helpless, without a weapon or tool, without the strength to defeat the monsters. However, they never tried to kill him. They hardly seemed to notice him in killing everyone else.

There was even a vision of the death energy from the temples being redirected to kill the sleeping Zelda. Link woke up from that one, sweating and trembling. The air was chilly and light was starting to come from the eastern horizon, but the images from the dreams had more to do with his condition than the environment.

Of course, it might have been from sleeping on the stones of this death temple, that could cause those nightmares. Gathering his wits and reminding himself that he could stop this, he had a quick breakfast and prepared for the day. Then he headed for the elevator and descended into the temple.

Immediately, he was greeted with a message on the wall saying that 'You cannot save them. If you value your life, turn back now. Everyone you know will die. -Helmethead' It was startling with the dreams he had had, but it couldn't be real. The guardian of this temple was just trying to scare him. Link started to explore.

There were a lot more enemies here, the ones he had faced in the first temple and several more past that. There were flying horse heads that weaved around in patterns, flying orange eyeballs that left fire in their wake, and a blue golem that hurled magical axes. The first way he'd tried, further down the initial elevator shaft, was full of nothing but dead ends. While he managed to pick up some rupees and a fragile glass of red magic potion, there was nothing to indicate how he should proceed.

What there was was more drawings of death scenes. These were not as grand as in the previous temple; these were with just one or two people dying of something. However, there were more written messages, hundreds of names lined up with the word 'DEAD' after them. It affected him more than the grand images of death, as each name was an individual who had lost their life for unstated reasons. Who were these people and what had their lives been like?

Or, were they real people? They might just be names, excuses to spread the imagery and ideas of death in whoever visited. After not finding anything important in the writings, he did his best to ignore them as background distractions.

After a while, he seemed to be getting back on track. That is, if the presence of the blue Ironknuckle was any indication. Link was surprised to find that it could throw sword beams as well, and fast. Recalling what the sword master at the castle had said, he did his best to move with his shield, catching the beams so that they did not affect him as much. Still, he had to retreat at one point to cast Life and Shield. The blue Ironknuckle pursued him with surprising speed, but then backed off and threw beams when Link went back in to attack again.

The battle took some time, but Link defeated it. He hoped that the shrine was past it, but there was only a small treasure room. On the table in there, he found a glass bottle with a clear liquid inside. It scattered light brightly, sending little rainbows that flickered like the torch flames onto the walls. A tag on the cork said that it was 'Water of Life'. Some kind of healing potion? But what for? He decided to put it in his bag and hold off on trying it until he could get to a town and ask an expert.

Backtracking, he found a path he hadn't taken yet and followed it to another elevator. This brought him to an area with colored pictures instead of black. Was this a pattern? He checked around, but it was much of the same that had been throughout the temple: scenes of murder, illness, accident, magic, battle, poison, all leading to death. Near the hall to the next room, there was more writing that wasn't names. 'Your father will die. Your mother will die. Your children will die. Your friends will die. Your lovers will die. Everyone you know, everyone you see, everyone you can't know, they will all die and leave you alone to despair. There is nothing that can stop this, so cut all your ties and accept the nature of the world.'

It was true, but it wasn't prophetic, Link thought. It was too general to be aimed specifically at him. Heading on down the hallway, he came into a room that was like where Horsehead had been. The curtains and carpet were a deep green, and in the center of the room there was a being much like the previous guardian. He too had heavy body armor colored blue, but he had a helmet that seemed disproportionately small for his height. In his right hand, he carried a broadsword with a blood-red blade. It had to be Helmethead, for the straightforward basic name fit him like his gloves.

"Do you seek death to avoid the pain of the death of others before you?" Helmethead asked in a metallic voice. "Or are you the one who slew Horsehead? Whichever you are," he brought his sword up and pointed it at Link, "I will by the one to grant you your death."

Link shook his head, then brought his own sword against Helmethead's. He was skilled, blocking all of Link's strikes, but he did not move well in his armor. Observing him, Link couldn't see any obvious weak points in his armor. But there had to be something. Maybe in his movement. Thinking on that, Link picked up his own pace, starting to strike head on, but then darting around to behind Helmethead. The only thing that stood out to him was a gap in between his chest armor and his helmet, but Helmethead was a couple of feet taller than Horsehead, three feet taller than Link. So he put up his sword and ran back, getting out his bow and firing an arrow at the helmet.

The arrow knocked the helmet right off leaving... nothing. But then a second helmet grew out of his armor. "Do not try to slay me," he said. "It is a fruitless effort. Let death come to you quickly, by my blade." Then the first helmet rose into the air and fired a fireball at him, much like the heads of a Gleeok.

Not a chance. Link dashed across the room to get another good shot and struck the second helmet. It too fell off and came to life on its own. But this time, a white bald head with no features rose out of the armor. Helmethead knocked Link's next arrow out of the air with his sword, so Link made sure to run directly behind him before firing again. This, strangely, made his head explode, causing his armor and two helmets to clatter onto the floor before turning to dust.

Seeing him fall made Link wonder if he really was much better than other fighters, or if the messages had scared other adventurers away. His arrow bag was still producing Silver Arrows, so they might be stronger than regular arrows against these monsters as well. Whatever was leading to his success, it just made it sooner that this would all be over. He moved on to where the shrine was.

This time, he took the Master Sword to knock the death crystal out of place instead of risking touching it. There was a bright flash when he did, causing the crystal to crack before it hit the floor. Nothing seemed to change about the Master Sword, so Link put the next holy crystal in place and warped out of the temple.

Outside, he found himself back in the sticky mud as he watched the temple turn to rubble. He'd have to get totally out of the marsh in order to find decent water to clean up with. And then there was the strange potion he had picked up that he needed to identify. The women in Rauru who had healed him might be able to do that. But, he wanted to make progress towards the next temple, which was on the island in the bay. There was a port town at the end of the road by the bay, Mido. As a port, it should have a variety of businesses, including one that would know what he had.

Link started up his trudge through the marsh again, this time heading southeast.

* * *

 

By the time he got to a clean pond, he had spend a week in the marsh area and the mud was caked on his boots and pants several layers thick. Not only that, but it had taken a day's walk from the start of the grasslands to find it. Link beat off as much of the dried muck as he could, then washed the clothes off in the pond. This time, he had some soap that he could use for them, and himself, so he decided to get fully cleaned up. The water had a chill, but flowers by the pond were starting to bloom and trees were full of leaf buds. The signs of spring were encouraging.

But just after he got dressed again, a horse-drawn wagon came flying down the road. The driver tried to turn too hard and ended up flipping the wagon over, losing both of the horses. Behind them, a group of orange and red Dairas came rushing to catch them. Those were the axe-weilders he had encountered in Death Mountain, the ones with horns on their noses and strange scaled skin.

They were also Ganon's creations. Link grabbed his bow and killed the sole red Daira with a Silver Arrow; it was tougher and had those magical axes it could keep hurling, making it more important to take out. Recognizing the weapon and the golden glint of the Triforce on his neck, the five monsters left decided to come after him. Link could fire three arrows fast enough to take out one a piece, then had to drop his bow to grab the Master Sword as the final two got into close combat range. He ducked low to confuse them, killing one that way before dashing around and getting the other in the back.

Never a moment to truly rest, he thought, regretting not setting up the Orb of Sanctuary before cleaning up. But, it wouldn't have helped those in the wagon. It appeared to be a group of two families traveling together, moving somewhere. There were five children in the group, with three parents and three grandparents. A fourth adult, the man who had been driving, seemed to have gotten the horses back and was doing his best to led them back to the wagon. Several of them were injured badly from the wreck, so Link got out his magic rod and started helping them with healing.

"Were you the one who took care of the monsters?" one of the women asked. When he nodded, she said, "Thank you so much for helping. The road was supposed to be safe, but then they spooked the horses."

"I told you the monsters were getting more active the past few months," the old man with them said. "But did you listen to me saying this was a bad time to move? No."

"Dad, it's too late to stop now," the woman said.

Once everyone had been healed up and their possessions accounted for, there was some discussion of how to get the horses attached to the wagon again. They tried to tie them with ropes, but recalling his days fishing with his father, Link wasn't satisfied with the quality and managed to get them to let him retie them more securely. They were headed to Mido too, so he accepted an offer for a ride to help guard them from further monster attacks.

"I heard that Ganon's forces have been building up strength this past winter," one of the boys said as they got back on their way. "Is that true?"

"That's what it looks like," the old man said. "He could be looking to invade northern Hyrule now, and turn it into the dangerous lands like southern Hyrule is."

"But Ganon's dead," one of the women said. "People were taking all about that at the start of winter."

"Hey, mister knight, is he dead?" the boy asked.

Link looked back and nodded, but declined to give a sign that he'd been the one to do it.

"Bah, I don't believe those rumors," the old man said. "A warrior and a wizard with such an evil heart as that won't be taken down easily. Even if he was dead, I bet he would plan and work for revenge in the afterlife."

That was what he was doing, wasn't he? His spirit had been watching over the elder Zelda, and his servants knew that they had to kill him to revive their master. What would it take to put his soul to rest at last?

"Are you the one I've heard of?" the driver asked. "The knight that's supposed to be looking to take down the temples of death."

Link nodded.

"Error, you are not going on that reckless road again," one of the women said sternly to him. "You have to be around for the children."

"Hey, yeah, I know," he said, waving to her. "If you're headed for Mido, does that mean you're looking for the island palace? I know of a secret path to it and for helping out my family, I'll tell you where to find it." He waved to the south side of the road. A row of white crosses was visible some distance away. "That graveyard has a secret passageway that leads to the island. Find the King's Tomb; it's the biggest one there, so that shouldn't be hard. Head south for seven rows and you'll find a fake tomb that can be pushed aside to reveal the passage. But be careful; the way is very deep and dark, and at times the footing can be terrible."

An underground passage to the island temple. He had planning to navigate the bay on his raft, but depending on weather, the passage might be easier. He bowed his head and gave a sign of thanks for the hint.

They arrived at Mido late, right as the sun was setting. Error and his family were heading for their new house, so Link got off at the entrance of town and started looking around for a potion shop. This town was much like Saria, large and busy, lit up so that the night didn't stop anyone from getting around. The stores all seemed clustered together near the docks, so he searched there until he found a sign marking an apothecary.

There were a few people in here, but Link managed to get the attention of one of the workers by putting the bottle on the counter. "Yes, did you need a refill of something?" Noticing it was full, he said, "Or selling? We don't buy many potions, but..."

He turned the tag to face the apothecary and made a gesture that he didn't know what it was.

"Water of Life?" He ran his hand over the bottle, a ring on his hand glowing with some kind of scanning spell. "Oh, and that's the real stuff. There's a child in town who really needs this and we've been scrambling to find an adventurer who could get to a spring with it. Thanks for bringing it in, this gives us a fighting change."

He smiled and nodded, stepping away from the counter to indicate that they could have it if a child needed it. It had been a lucky find, apparently, so it was nothing to hold him back.

"But I should repay you in some kind," the man said. "The parents would insist. If you won't take money, then I could give you a unique spell. It's useful for exploring strange areas."

A new spell would be welcome, so Link brought out his spell book and let the apothecary copy a spell to it. But looking on it, he wasn't sure quite yet what to do with it. 'Fairy- turns caster into a winged fairy. Have magical adventures flying through the air, but beware of animals trying to eat you. Does not grant fairy powers, so ordinary objects may become unwieldy to hold.' Turning into a fairy... might be useful, but he'd have to see.

As it was getting late, Link went to find an inn to stay the night in.


	16. Death of the Body

In the morning, he was woken up by the sound of breaking glass. Link went into action quickly, throwing the blanket over the nearest movement to give himself a moment to wake up and grab his sword. The blanket went right to the floor, trapping a wildly moving small beast. Maybe it wasn't a monster. With his sword in hand, he pulled the blanket off and found that it was one of the swamp bird monsters that he had fought a lot of. It shot right for him, but one solid hit took it down... as well as the four others that followed.

There were screams from outside and Link remembered that he was in a town now. He pulled on his clothes quickly, grabbed his things, then ran downstairs. Noticing the innkeeper trying to hide under the desk, Link took a handful of rupees and put them on the counter, to apologize for the trouble. Then he headed out and joined the town guard in defeated this monster invasion.

When the group there had been taken care of, one of the guard waved over to him. "Ho there, young man. I mean, sir," he corrected, seeing the knight's crest pinned to his shirt. He gave a puzzled look to the Triforce, then said, "Mind helping us keep a high guard in case another wave of monsters come in."

He shook his head, waving to him. He should have guessed this might happen and camped outside town to prevent it. But then, how had they found him indoors? Could one of Ganon's servants, or even many of them, sense the Triforce? Or any of his other enchanted items. It was better for him to leave now. He did pause outside of town until he spotted a Daira wandering around. Although he could have killed it quickly, he ran over and spooked it, letting it run off a short distance. Then he ran away from Mido. Before long, another group of monsters came in pursuit of him. Hopefully they would ignore the town now.

Once he took care of them, he used a healing potion to recover from the battle, then hurried on south towards the graveyard. The grasslands were flat here, so he soon found the rows of many crosses and tombstones. It was an enormous field for graves, much larger than the one in southern Hyrule. Looking over the quiet scene, he noticed that many of the markers were weathered and old. A few seemed polished and new, but a check of dates noted that even the ones that looked old may have only been from a few years ago. While it marked deaths, this place was peaceful instead of troubling like the marsh temple.

The King's Tomb, as Error had suggested, was easy to pick out; it resembled an over-sized sarcophagus sitting on a raised platform. There, he met an old woman who seemed to be the only living person in the graveyard. "Please be respectful around here," she said. "This is the King's Tomb and one must not wake slumbering spirits."

Link nodded. But, it was still early in the morning and he had been active since the moment he woke up. This seemed to be a quiet place, so he got out some bread, jerky, and dried fruits to eat for breakfast, sitting on the ground near the tomb.

"You seem to have been in a hurry this morning," the woman said, continuing the sweep at the base of the tomb. "The monsters around here have been in a fuss since a little while ago. They gathered and headed north. Did you have anything to do with that?"

He nodded, putting down the bag of fruits for a moment to tap the Triforce.

"I thought so," she said. "They usually don't come up to this tomb, but sometimes they wander around the graveyard, especially the Goriyas and Moblins. Although you know, the name is misleading. It is the King's Tomb, but there is more than just a king buried here. This leads to the crypt of the Royal Family of Hyrule, deep beneath the other graves. We have had a string of great and beloved rulers in the past century, especially the ones who bear the name of Zelda. The love the country has for them keeps this place protected, I think. And perhaps I help with it, keeping this area tidy. One Zelda, the mother to the one on the throne now, helped me a great deal when I was young, and so for her, I keep her final resting place nice."

That sounded like a good thing. He tapped his hand to his head, as a sign of gratitude for such respect. If what she was saying was true, then the rulers of northern Hyrule were great people.

"You're quiet, but you seem like a nice fellow," the old woman said. "And you must be good, in order to hold two whole pieces of the Triforce. Thanks for listening to me. I'll give you a few pieces of advice in exchange." She paused in her sweeping. "First, this place is safe during the day, but do not come at night. Restless ghosts can turn into monsters known as Moa, and they will assault any of the living, who they are invisible to. Second, there is another graveyard across the bay, on the path that leads into the Valley of Death. However, that place is the site of a terrible battle and the Moa and other monsters are especially violent there. And last, there is a way to see the Moa, if you have an old cross. It must be old, for a new one will not do. Hopefully there is a way you can find one."

Link listened carefully, nodding along. Those were good things to know. Where would he find an old cross, though? Maybe an old church. Once he was finished with his breakfast, he got up, bowed to the old woman, then headed south to find that passageway.

Seven rows down, and it would be under one of the tombs. It might be on rails like the paladin's tomb. When he got to the right area, he noticed that one of the tombstones was larger than the rest. They were all white crosses, but this one was a stone slab inscribed 'Unknown Adventurer, your troubles are over'. The grasses near this stone weren't growing as well as the rest in the graveyard. An influence of the temple? Link lifted the slab up and moved it aside to reveal a hole.

There was an aura of darkness inside, and with the bright sunlight above it was hard to tell what was in the hole and how far it dropped. Looking around, Link found a small stone and tossed it down the hole. It clattered on some ground, but then seemed to drop further down. Before going down, Link cast Light. With that in place, he dropped into the hole.

He dropped down several feet onto a small ledge, which quickly crumbled under his weight. There were more fragile ledges that he could see, but the end of the hole seemed quite deep. Taking care to hop between the platforms, Link made his way down. But the noise attracted a mass of Lowders; the crab-monsters scurried around trying to find where he would land. He sent a Wave Burn spell down at them to clear the way, then struck down the last with the rod when he finally reached the floor. Looking up at the patch of blue sky, it seemed that he'd come down a long ways. He'd definitely try to leave the island by raft when he was done.

Heading down the tunnel, there seemed to be only Lowders and bats in here. The earth was dry, surprising for being underneath a bay. Maybe the water wasn't as deep. However, the passage was long, heading east and slightly south. The fact that it was straight and without any markers made it a tedious walk.

After what seemed to be (and probably was) hours of walking, Link came to the end of the tunnel. He put his hand against the wall in front of him, but it seemed solid, not a tunnel collapse. So, that was it? After coming all this way, it just ended? Either Error was lying to him or something had to be done here.

He looked around, finding a shaft above him. Could he climb up that? Or... he remembered the Fairy spell. Fairies flew and this would not be an obstacle to one. Since he had not yet cast it, Link got out his spellbook and read over the magic word and spell description again. Then he brought the magic rod in front of him and cast it.

He felt the shift much like a warp spell, like the world was changing around him, growing larger. After a second, he found himself less than a foot tall, dressed like he normally did but with pale green wings on his back. The magic rod as in still in his left hand, and the spellbook in his right. Flying only took the thought of which way to go and the will to move, so he was soon shooting up the shaft as easy as a dream. This was fun, actually.

At the top of the shaft, he found a continuation of the tunnel, as well as a cluster of skull bubbles that were larger than he was. One was headed his way, so he cast Wave Burn at it. Although the skull bubble got pushed to a stop, it was only for a second. Now it was on fire and still coming his way. Link flew out of its path and hurried along the tunnel to get away from all those skulls.

Seeing sunlight falling on stairs ahead, Link used the Fairy spell again to transform back to his normal shape, once he was past the cluster of skull bubbles. Then he hurried out of the tunnel, glad to be back outdoors. From the placement of the sun, it was shortly past noon. The path stood on a rocky cliff that led to a steep drop into the bay. It might be possible to survive that dive, Link thought, but the rocks and the small patch of land at the bottom made the landing more dangerous. Enjoying the breeze that held the familiar smell of sea water, he took a moment there to get something to eat. Seagulls flew around, but from his position, he didn't think it would be easy to hunt one for fresh meat.

Once he felt ready, Link headed along the path. It sloped downward and around the island. Loose rocks and the occasional drop made it tricky to get around; a mistaken slip might sent him over the cliffs and into the sea. By the time it wrapped around the island, the path was on sea level, with some dips that went below the high water stains on the rocks. There was another rise in the path with various ledges going up the island again, and then another temple had been carved into the tall rock that jutted out of the bay. This made the entrance darker and more still than the other two.

He stopped by the central Ironknuckle statue to read the sign and ready himself for what was ahead. It named this place as the 'Temple of the Death of the Body'. From that, he wondered if this place would be more difficult. Still, he had good supplies and from the location he didn't think this place could be that big. He headed inside and down the elevator.

Inside the temple itself, there was only one way to go, deeper into the island. In the walls, there were shafts that let in daylight, giving a stark contrast between brightly lit areas and deeply shadowed ones. There were a lot of enemies, ones that were simple to defeat but numerous. It seemed as though every time he cleared out one group, another would come from the shadows. Like the rest of Ganon's minions, they turned to dust. Were they reviving themselves from that dust? Link hurried on, not wanted to get caught in an endless fight.

There were drawings on the walls here too. When he got a chance to glance at them, they seemed to be dissection diagrams of many different beings: animals, humans, Zoras, Gorons... and even some of Ganon's monsters. Strangely, the monster diagrams showed the outline of their bodies, then a large number of magic runes. So they really were magical constructs and nothing more.

While he was trying to get through, he ran into the occasional tougher monster. The newest one was a Doomknocker, a blue-gray armored beast that threw warhammers like the magical boomerang. A blow from that had nearly knocked Link unconscious, so he fought it more cautiously after that with his bow. Once it was gone, the reviving hyenas and flying panther heads returned, so he drank one of his healing potions before running ahead to leave this passage.

At the end of it, he came upon an area where large blue blocks started falling from the ceiling. Link felt his heart race as he tried to race through to an area without them, especially when a cluster of blocks fell right in his path. He tried to knock them over so he could get easier; the Goron bracelet flashed and the blocks crumbled. While handy to know, the more pressing issue was the large amount of blocks falling overhead. Spotting a door, he changed directions to reach that and pushed on it. It didn't budge, so he fumbled through his bag as dozens of blocks fell around him. Then he had the lion key in hand to unlock the door and get out of that block trap.

And into another one, apparently. Thankfully, these blocks weren't falling. Instead, they were stacked against the opposite wall, disguising where the passage to the next area was. There seemed to be no monsters, but the clank of metallic footsteps and the rustling of something indicated that there was something around.

Having a momentary break, Link got a drink of water and looked around at the diagrams. It wasn't really anything disturbing yet, but a squeamish person might not like this place. The diagrams even got onto the floor here. But as he looked down, he noticed that some of them were not of bodies. They were off the arrangements of blocks ahead, a map of this room. According to it, there were Ironknuckles, tiny spiny creatures known as Myu, and another Doomknocker. But, the passage to the next area was rather large, about in the center of the wall a few feet up. Link paced around the room, finding several different angles until he felt he knew the way through.

However, there were two Ironknuckles in the way, in open gaps between the blocks. If he wasn't careful, he would drop down right between them. He counted blocks in the diagrams, then climbed up the block structure and counted the blocks there. When he thought he had it right, he used the Goron bracelet to punch down through the blocks, into the gaps.

He dropped into the gap when there was a big enough space for him and saw the back of a blue Ironknuckle. That meant that he was off and he'd have to fight both of them. Taking his bow, he shot the blue Ironknuckle before it turned and noticed him. The Silver Arrow pierced right through its armor, but didn't destroy it (might help in a larger space). After blocking a flurry of sword beams with his shield, he swapped out his bow for the Master Sword and finished off the Ironknuckle. Then he had to punch through to another gap and take down a red Ironknuckle before he could take down the last set of blocks between himself and the passage onward.

There was a large gap in the hallway, so he cast Jump to get over it and head on to the next door. This, surprisingly, led outside, to the small piece of land he had seen earlier. It was mid-afternoon now and there wasn't much here. Four pillars at each corner of this area had an Ironknuckle statue standing on top of them, and a wall of smooth rock blocked in this place. What was the point of this?

On looking around, he found some musical notation on one of the rock walls. It was a song he knew, the Unraveled Tune. Maybe that would lead further into this temple? He brought out his recorder, checked it over to make sure it was still working, then played the song.

There was a whirl of magic, gathering more towards the center of the area. Link turned in time to see two figures forming. To his surprise, it was Horsehead and Helmethead. "Death cannot be defeated," Horsehead said, shifting his hold on his mace.

Helmethead agreed. "And thus, we will always come back as long as a single temple stands. Our places cannot be risen right now, but we will eliminate you to stop you from taking them all."

Now he had to fight both of them? Link was some distance away, so he brought out his bow and used that to hit Horsehead. Seeing as it didn't take him down quickly, he jumped back; with the Jump enchantment still in effect, he landed on top of the rock wall. They were mostly close-quarters fighters, so this was safer.

Mostly. Since he was out of reach of their weapons, the two of them turned to magic. Horsehead used bolts that, while not as fast as lightning still managed to blast a hole in the rock wall. Meanwhile, Helmethead used fireballs much like his loose helmets did. Link kept running along the wall, picking off Horsehead first, then working to get Helmethead defeated.

Once they were both gone again, nothing happened. No miniblin chest appeared, no passageway opened up, no item appeared. Nothing. Disappointed, Link checked around, especially the statues. There was no hint on where to go. He headed back inside, wondering if there had been another passage in the block room.

Thankfully, the way became clear before then. The gap he had jumped over turned out to be hiding an elevator, and an armored Stalfos. Link dropped down, defeated the skeleton monster, then headed further in.

The rest of the palace was much like that. When it seemed straightforward, the halls took him a long distance before he realized it was a dead end. There were now liquid fire pits standing in his way, along with all the reviving and non-reviving tough monsters. A second elevator shaft led him to another straight passageway. Down here, the murals changed to add color. With that, he could tell that many of the diagrams also showed the many ways in which a person could die, in gruesome detail. Along with the first and maybe only message in this temple: 'There are many ways in which to die. The body is an intricate but frail work. Even those who seem toughest can be brought down by a small problem. Anything can be deadly. Know this and fear everything. Now turn back, for those that wait ahead know many ways in which to destroy your body.'

Link looked at the two rings on his fingers, and thought of the Shield spell. Even with that protection, there would be something that could still kill him. But this had to be done so that Hyrule could be restored with the Triforce, and that Zelda's curse would break. Besides, if one feared everything, there would be no way to get anything done. Link moved on, through another long straight passage.

The weak reviving enemies were gone, but the strong ones remained. They weren't mobbing him, so it was in some ways easier than earlier battles in this temple. There was even another block room puzzle, but this one was simpler and he only had to defeat a red Ironknuckle to move on. Still, it was disappointing to clear a hall of monsters only to realize that he had to go back.

Finally, he reached a room with dark blue drapes overhead and a dark blue carpet. This must be where the guardian stayed, although Link didn't see one at first. He headed in and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place, just a missing guardian. Hearing a noise behind him, he turned and saw that one of those Myu had knocked over a tin of drawing charcoal. It couldn't be the Myu.

A louder clatter came from the other side of the room and Link turned just in time to avoid getting impaled with a lance. The blow still knocked him to the floor, forcing him to look up at his next enemy. It was a blue Ironknuckle, but wielding a lance instead of a sword. Not only that, but he was riding on dark blue horse armor, formed to look demonic with spikes along its edges. The horse had glowing red eyes, but no other sign of a body underneath the armor could be seen, even by magic.

The Ironknuckle snorted, then spoke, "A lucky block, that was. The futility of your situation shall become clear quickly enough. I will destroy your body and give your blood as a sacrifice to Master Ganon. Yes, only in your death can you be valuable to us. Now, time for you to die." He backed up, getting ready to charge again.

This guy could hit hard, but he was using a horse in an enclosed room, and at full charge too. Link stayed where he was, getting back to his feet and keeping his sword ready. When the Ironknuckle charged, he dodged to the side without the lance and struck at him. His sword glanced off the horse's armor with little effect. The Ironknockle stopped his horse before hitting the wall, so it was definitely one of the intelligent ones.

But it still took a moment to turn around. Link got out his bow and tried that; the arrow glanced off the Ironknuckle's armor, so this one seemed to be different. Thinking through the rest of his gear, he recalled that bombs were decent against these armored enemies, but with the horse charging around, it was going to be tough. He got his bomb bag in easy reach, ran out of another charge, then got out the magic rod. Once he threw a bomb at the Ironknuckle, he followed up with Wave Burn to make it explode before it even hit the ground, right next to the horse armor.

The horse, real or ghost, made a screaming whinny at that, losing parts of its armor. Even the Ironknuckle lost some of its leg armor. It took a second bomb to defeat the horse, making it turn to dust. But the Ironknuckle remained, landing on the floor and whirling its lance around. Then he hurled the lance at Link, drawing a sword in its place. Link got out of the way of the lance, but had to bring his sword up to deflect a flurry of sword beams.

After a dozen shots, the blue Ironknuckle put his sword down, reassessing the situation. Link figured he might be able to sword duel it now, but decided not to risk it and sent another bomb at the Ironknuckle. This wrecked its chestplate, revealing a muscular body underneath that had sickly white skin. The Ironknuckle threw more sword beams at him, then rushed over without being hindered by the weight of its armor. Having to react fast, Link slammed the magic rod into the Ironknuckle's stomach, stunning it long enough that he could drop the rod and draw his own sword. One final hit with the Master Sword destroyed the blue Ironknuckle, turning it back to dust as well.

Link took a moment to pause in relief. Another charged hit might have killed him, or even one of those sword beams. But this battle was over. He put up his sword to pick up the rod again and cast Life. His energy was running low, but there couldn't be much more to this place, if it was like the other temples.

Thankfully, that was true. Since he had the rod in hand, he knocked the death crystal out of place with a Wave Burn, then replaced it with a holy crystal and left. But instead of turning to rubble, this temple turned back into stone, ending up looking like the rest of the giant rock this island was made up of. There was still a remnant of death magic here, waiting for the chance to rebuild the temple. But according to talk around the castle, he had already gotten further than any other who tried to conquer the Temples of Death. He wasn't about to let them be restored, not while he was living.

To prevent that bit of death magic from reaching into his dreams again, Link crossed back over the low part of the path and set up camp safely out of the high tide area.


	17. Death of the Heart

The next day, Link set up his raft and guided it towards the eastern shore of the bay, to reach the other half of northern Hyrule. The day was windy, but the waves were nothing he couldn't handle. There were a few boats out on the water, none coming close enough to greet. Although he kept an eye out for Zolas, it seemed there wasn't much for monsters in this bay. It made the trip somewhat relaxing, reminding him of good times fishing with his father and the crew. Once he was a short distance from the shore, he took a few minutes to fish for something to eat before heading to the beach to cook his catch.

Surprisingly, there was no port town in this area. There were more grasslands to cross with a few scattered groves of trees around. From here, he had several choices to go. There was a temple to the south of the river here, along with the entrance to the Valley of Death. To the east, there was a large sea where another temple could be found. And far to the northeast, there was an island that held the last. That one was much further, so not there. The closest was actually the one to the south, although that would mean backtracking to that area when he got all the temples taken care of; he didn't want to risk using the Wood Wind song and end up back in southern Hyrule. Still, he decided to head down to the river and check out that area.

It took a couple of days to do so, in part because of the monsters he came across. Goriyas were more numerous here, as well as armored versions of Tektites that were invulnerable to swords. However, bombs, Wave Burn, and even arrows could handle them efficiently still. When he used his Orb of Sanctuary to camp, he would wake up to find the monsters waiting just beyond the shield, ready to pounce the moment he turned the orb off. With three temples gone, Ganon was more aggressive with getting him killed.

Link finally reached the main road, along with a bridge that crossed the river. It was a simple stone bridge, with black iron edging made to be more attractive. As he got closer, a large beast appeared on the bridge and roared at him. It seemed to be a cross between a spider and a dragon, with eight large hairy legs and a long scaled body. Its pincers were lined with many jagged teeth, like a saw ready to shred his flesh from his bones. At the end of its tail was a large blade, whipping around and threatening just as much damage to anyone who tried to get behind it.

When he looked closer, he could tell that it was an illusion. Where was its source? He came closer and it blasted him with a breath attack of blue fire what was so cold it was like being struck by instantaneous frostbite. While this thing might not be real, it could certainly hurt him. Link backed off the bridge and healed himself up. The illusion remained, watching him and growling every so often to warn him from getting close again.

Until he knew more about that spider dragon illusion, that way was out for now. Link decided to head up the road to the nearest town, then go for the temple in the sea. He traveled until he could see the town up ahead, then set up camp by the roadside and took a break for the rest of the day to check over his gear and supplies.

That night, he received a visitor. The image of the brown-haired Zelda appeared near his campfire. "Ah, here you are," she said, smiling. "I'm sorry for not contacting you, but you've been moving fast. Half of the temples are down already, which is wonderful. Thank you."

He smiled and waved at her to sit down by him. It was good to see her again after traveling through those disturbing temples. Sure, he'd tried to ignore their environments, but there was so much that the images strayed back into his mind occasionally.

"Those places are terrible," Zelda agreed, now appearing to be beside him. "Ganon originally intended for me, I mean, my spirit to be trapped in those temples. At first I was, only able to drift through those halls and see the awful things the guardians were putting on the wall. It suppose it would have driven me insane and then... well, I don't know what he meant for that. Maybe turning me into a curse on the land. But then I figured out how to return to my body, which my brother was diligently taking care of and keeping monsters from reaching. From there, I could project my mind and spirit anywhere I wanted. And those temples were definitely not where I wanted to be."

Link could agree with that. But since she had been in them, he wondered if she knew anything in the other three temples that he should be careful of. He had gotten lucky with the tip about the passage in the graveyard. The others he knew general locations for, but only what was on public record.

She seemed to be listening to him, then looked into the fire. "About the last three temples? Actually, I think the three you've taken down were the simple ones. The other three can be confusing. There will be false walls, false passages, and false floors waiting to trick you. In fact, I think you can't even reach the guardian in the temple in the sea unless you pass by what seems to be a dead end. One of the other temples... or is it both? Anyhow, there are also huge holes inside which pass through many levels, and one of them is endless until you manage to land on a ledge. Oh yeah, and the guardian of the temple on Maze Island, I've never seen or heard of anyone who's defeated him. He's difficult to even damage, although I saw once when he accidentally knocked himself unconscious with a misfired spell. You'll have to find a way to take advantage of that, I think."

Endless holes and a guardian that had never been defeated. Well he couldn't let that deter him any more than the morbid messages the guardians made. But it was nice to have a few hours off like this. Link just wished he could talk with her.

"I can hear most of your thoughts," she reminded him. "So other than fairies, I'm the only one you can really talk to."

There was that. Link smiled and thought through some more lighthearted things, like what life had been like back in Waterfront before he had found the Triforce, or even back before he was cursed with silence. She seemed to like that and talked with him as long as her energy for projection kept up.

* * *

 

Link went into the town of Nabooru to replenish his supplies, mostly travel foods but also some more healing potions. Then he headed east along the road, arriving at the sea at midday. However, a storm had kicked up and the seas were rough. Finding some shelter under a tree, Link checked his map. This wasn't a day to cross the sea, but if he followed the coast south, he could reach a point that was closer to the temple to set out on the raft from tomorrow, provided the storm passed on. With that in mind, he walked south.

Along the beach, he ran into tough shelled scorpions with a number of vicious teethed plants called Leevers that moved much faster than the Gelderms of northwest Hyrule. There was even a couple of Basilisks with even tougher hides than the scorpions. Later in the day, there was a group of Goriya wolfmen that tried to ambush him, although the lack of decent cover made Link notice before they intended him to. There were points where he thought he heard Ganon laughing at him. Maybe it was just his imagination. But as night fell and he set up camp, he definitely felt the presence of the tyrant's ghost. He too was watching his progress.

The storm was gone by the next morning, leaving the seas a little rough. Link went ahead and set out on his raft; he could see the temple from his campsite on the beach, so it wouldn't be a long trip. When he arrived, he almost felt grateful that the storm had blown through yesterday. Compared to the one in the bay, this island was small and the temple was huge. The columns towered far over his head, not even bearing a full roof, just some edging with the center part totally gone. The stones were weathered, but seemed to be extremely tough. Under one of the Ironknuckle statues, he found the usual sign naming this place 'Temple of the Death of the Heart'.

Thinking about that name, Link touched the Triforce. He had already proven himself to the Goddesses, so he didn't think there could be much here to deter him. He walked along the huge base and entered the temple through the usual elevator.

At the bottom, there was a messy warning on the wall, done in red instead of black. 'BeWAre! THere Is A LoNg WAy BeFore you AND THere Is No WAy To FIND THe TrUe eND. TUrN BACK NoW! -gooMA'

This was apparently the place with invisible walls, so that was just another trick. Link moved ahead, only to get fireballs spat at him from the blue snakes on the ground and the black panther head statues on the walls. While the statues could not be stopped, he could destroy the snakes and run out of range of the rest. There were more of the destroyable blocks around. Here, they merely formed made the floors uneven.

Past that, there was a wall where the only way ahead was a small passage at the very top. Link used the Fairy spell to get through that, but then had to dodge skull bubbles and fly over large pits of liquid fire. Once he got to a solid platform, he reverted from the fairy form and started across the bridge leading over the next fire pit. Shortly after he stepped onto it, the bridge began to crumble. He sprinted as fast as he could to get over it in time, then paused to look back when he got to a safe platform. The only way he could get back was to use the Fairy spell again, and he might burn through much of his energy doing that. Hopefully there wasn't something he needed to progress back there.

Seeing no enemies at the moment, he paused to get some food and rest. There was a door to the next area, but nothing dangerous in front of it; he was able to sit against the wall for a moment. That was when he noticed that there wasn't any pictures on the walls here. No messages either aside from the odd one at the very start. Maybe this guardian wasn't as into drawing and writing as the others. Even if there had been pictures, the temple so far had been dangerous to move through, with no time to look around.

After a few minutes, he got back up and used the lion key on the next door. There were more stacks of those destroyable blocks, arranged in a careful grid. They weren't that tall, enough that he could step up on top of them if he didn't want to just walk around them. Also in the room were a number of patrolling red Ironknuckles. At first, they didn't seem to notice him. But once he stepped into the grid, any that were in the row or column he was in would come running for him. He defeated two, then just watched the others to pass through unheeded. If he didn't need to fight them, no need to waste energy. They'd all be gone when the temple fell.

At the end of the grid room, there was an elevator to the next level down. And here, Link began to see why this place might be for the death of the heart. There seemed to be four ways to go, leading to narrow halls which had more passages further down... and farther, and farther, seemingly another grid but with walls. It would be easy to lose one's place here, especially if the elevator decided to go back up on its own.

That is, if what was seen was real. Like with the Lost Woods, Link could see which paths were real and which ones would just magic him elsewhere. The path to the south was real, but dead-ended abruptly. The path to the north he took was also real, leading him along a zigzag path where enemies occasionally jumped out of false passageways to battle him. Taking care of them easily, Link continued to follow the path of magic until he reached a place where the real path split into two. He could either head down an elevator, or through the wall.

Zelda had said that she thought the guardian could only be reached through a false wall. Trusting her advice, Link walked into the wall, feeling no resistance. It was hard to see with just his eyes, but his magic sense proved reliable as it brought him safely to the other side.

And into the guardian's room. This time, there were bright orange drapes and a tan carpet lined with spikes at the edges. There were three doors in other walls, not including the fake wall he had walked through. In the center, there was a grotesque giant of a man, hunched over with his wild red hair in braids down his back and his rough beard covering much of his bare torso. He wore a sash made from some large red beast and heavy leather boots, nothing else. In his hands, there was a heavy chain attached to a spiked morning star.

The hunchback giant turned to him and grumbled. "Cheater," he said in a rough deep voice. "You haven't even stepped inside half of my temple. Now I will have to teach you a lesson." He whirled his chained morning star around, then hurled it at Link.

He got out of its way easily but then the giant, presumably Gooma, began spinning in place, keeping the chain taunt. So the point of this place would be to wear down adventurers with traps, monsters, and magical architecture, to where the adventurer would lose their will and heart, thus to be easily killed by the inhabitants and guardian. If that was so, then how many adventurers had Gooma faced? He might not be as experienced.

Waiting until Gooma stopped spinning and started pulling his morning star in, Link dashed in and struck the giant with the Master Sword. Gooma halfheartedly tried to swat him with his bulky arms, but was too slow and too intent on bringing his morning star back in. Not that it mattered; even the Master Sword couldn't piece his skin. Up close, it seemed to resemble concrete.

Would he resist magic? The only attacking spell Link knew was Wave Burn, so he backed away to switch to the rod and cast it. It seemed to work. But just to see, he tried throwing a bomb into the mix and making it explode near Gooma. That struck the guardian hard enough to make him swear, and a second bomb was enough to defeat him.

Looking around, Link saw a strong presence of death magic through the north door, so went through there. The altar was here, confirming that Gooma had been the guardian. A couple of minutes later, the holy crystal caused the sea temple to crumble and Link was standing on the shore of the small island, waist deep in water as there was no safe land to stand on with the temple falling to pieces.

There were still a few more hours to the day, so Link got out his raft and turned it north, heading for the next island with the next temple.

* * *

 

He didn't quite make it to the island, but was able to camp on the shore of the mainland peninsula. Further down the coast, there was a wide wooden bridge leading to Maze Island. It looked old, but still in good condition. Did people live here? Or was this a remnant of an older civilization? Then again, this guardian hadn't been defeated, so maybe he kept it up out of vanity, daring adventurers to come challenge his temple.

Link crossed the bridge, then looked over the paths before him. There was a part that was a straight physical maze, created by rock walls and cliffs. But on the paths, he could see areas of enchantment that couldn't be safe to walk over. He considered using Fairy for a moment, but the magic extended into the air. When he threw a rock in one, it alerted a group of flying demons which quickly came down to attack him. Using Fairy to get past this was not the clever idea it seemed to be.

To the south, there was a path that did not have any enchantments; Link decided to go that way first. There were a few enemies in the way, which were easily dispatched. At the end of the long path, it turned north, then curled back around to the south to lead to a cave. Thinking the temple might be at the end of that, he entered the cave.

A Basilisk spotted him and spat fire at him, but he'd already figured out the best way to handle it was a fire spell of his own. Once it died, Link started to hear crying. Wary of it being a monster's trick, he went further into the cave. He stepped around a corner and found a group of Goriya wolfmen teasing a young boy who had been tied up close to a fire. But once one of them spotted Link there with the incomplete Triforce, it howled and the group turned to attacking him.

He took a few steps back before engaging the wolfmen, not wanting the kid to get close to the battle. A red one hung back, barking unintelligible orders while the orange and tan ones attacked him. Link dispatched them, then took on the tougher leader. Having fought a similar battle not that long ago, it was nothing unexpected.

When the battle was over, the kid was still crying. Recalling Kotake, Link observed the situation before moving. The boy was what he seemed to be, just a boy tied up with a sturdy rope. There was a fire underneath an opening in the top of the cave, with knives, a large metal pole, and a single clay bowl sitting nearby. Had they been meaning to cook and eat him? He'd known children who had disappeared and were never seen again, but that was under Ganon's rule. This could be a sign that they were getting more aggressive in northern Hyrule.

Since the scene was free of trickery, Link went over and took out his pocketknife to cut the child free. That action caused the boy to actually look at him. "O-oh, a knight. You came to rescue me? Thanks, that was scary."

Link smiled, then went back to cutting off the last of the rope holding his arms back. The boy wore a brown shirt with white buttons, a pair of black pants, and a pointed hat. While he was bruised and scratched up from the Goriyas, it was easily taken care of with the Life spell. Then there was the matter of deciding what to do with the kid. If Link kept him close, the boy would be in danger yet again; taking him into a Temple of Death was out of the question.

Fortunately, the boy was willing to talk. "I live in Darunia, which is really far from here. The Goriyas snatched me from right in the middle of town and then brought me all the way out here. But, I haven't traveled that far in all of my life and I don't know how to get back home. Can you take me, sir?"

Darunia was in eastern Hyrule, but all the way on the other side of the peninsula, overlooking the area where the bay met the ocean. Still, it seemed the best thing was to take him back as quickly as possible. Link nodded.

The boy bowed. "Thank you, sir. I'm Talin."

* * *

 

Link and Talin were able to get off of Maze Island in time to set up camp on the beach. Talin was quite active and talkative, telling Link a lot, like that he was six years old and his grandmother apparently made great gingerbread cookies. While the monsters did scare him, he wasn't bothered by Link's silence and stayed close to him. Because of that, Link tried to avoid close combat as much as he could, casting Shield on Talin if there was a risk of the monsters getting close.

Heading west the next morning, they soon entered a dark forest, one that sometimes held darkness even in the daytime. Giant spider monsters often dropped from trees, while floating eyes stalked them for hours. Sometimes Goriyas appeared as well, but they were more interested in killing Link than kidnapping Talin again. It took five days to get through the forest alone.

Once they left that area, they came to a lone seaside mountain. According to the map, Darunia was located on the western side. They found a man-made road that smoothed out the slopes, but it was a treacherous path with pits that contained what even Talin recognized as cursed water. Sometimes strange bubbles filled the air, snatching their energy and popping with a weak disorienting spell. Link could handle that, but he had to keep a hold on Talin's hand to keep him from getting hurt when dizzy.

Finally, they came to the top of one last ridge and found a village of red and brown stone houses. Talin perked up and pointed, "That's where I live! I'll bring you to my parents, okay?"

Link nodded and let the boy lead him through town. His neighbors recognized him and called out in relief at seeing him again. While happy to see his friends, Talin kept pulling Link along until they came to to a two story building that held the town's mill. A woman who had been at the door came running over to them. "Talin, you'd safe! I'm so glad to see you again."

"Momma!" he shouted, letting go of Link to hug her. "I got to travel around with a knight! This is Sir Link. He don't talk, but he beat up all the Goriyas!"

"Thank you, sir," Talin's mother said. "The Goriyas always did cause trouble, especially with stealing from wagons when they still came up the old mountain road. But this is the first time they kidnapped a child from here. We had given up on him as dead. Please come in so we can thank you."

He shook his head and pointed off back to the east. He couldn't delay his business in the temple any further. Also, with what happened in Mido, he didn't want to spend any more time than he had to in Darunia.

She looked disappointed. "Oh, you're busy. But I'd like to repay you somehow... oh, how about I introduce you to my father? He's a wise wizard who has been studying magic all his life and if I let him know that you rescued Talin, I'm sure he'll teach you something useful."

After giving it a moment of thought, Link nodded to that. It made Talin happy. "My gran'pa knows everything about magic! The only reason he hasn't gone south to beat up on that pig-tyrant Ganon is because his back's no good."

"Talin, don't be saying such things," his mother rebuked. "We'll make your favorite meal tomorrow, but you need to be a good boy. Sir Link, come this way; my father lives next door."

He followed her into the house of the old wizard. After being introduced to him, Link observed the place while Talin's mother explained things. There were a lot of books here, as well as mysterious instruments that had signs of being magical in nature. A glass orb filled with a silvery liquid got his attention first. When he rose his hand near it, it began to glimmer white, intensifying if he came closer to touching it.

"For bringing my grandson back safe and well, I'd be happy to teach you a new spell or two," the old wizard said, bringing Link's attention away from the orb. "Do you have a spellbook? Or anything in particular you want to know about?"

Link brought out his spellbook, allowing the wizard to look through the few spells he had. Recalling his meeting with Zelda and her comment on the unbeatable guardian, he wrote a short message about disrupting another's spell in process.

"Some useful spells to a traveler, but only one attack spell? Surprising." He looked at Link's note when passed over. "Disrupting another's spell? I'm not sure how to do that reliably. Sometimes if you simply cast faster than the other, but if this is for Master Carock as it seems to be, that would be difficult even for myself. Then again, there is a way to redirect spells and if you could learn to control that... Reflect is a variation on Shield, allowing for spell deflection. It's a tough spell to master. But, you need it?"

Redirecting the spell, so that he could use the guardian's own power against him. Link nodded. With that, the wizard copied Reflect into his spellbook. He also gave him an Antidote spell that undid many poisons and some curses, "Although some potent ones like a basilisk bite or a Gleeok's venom can't be undone by Antidote," the wizard warned. Accepting those two spells for his reward, Link bade Talin and his family a silent goodbye before going to the local store to pick up more supplies and leaving town well before the sun set.


	18. Death of the Mind

Without a child along to protect and keep an eye on, Link moved through the forest much faster, getting back to the bridge in three days. When he got to the bridge, he encountered three fairies, one quite small but the other two their normal size of seven inches high. The smaller one came to him, seeming familiar. "Oh, it's you," he said. "I'm the one you rescued from the temple in the Parapa area. I'm still kinda nervous, but I'm feeling a lot better now. And this is my mother and father."

"Thank you for helping him, kind sir," the female fairy said. She seemed to be dressed in cherry blossoms, with a cherry stem tied around her red hair. "I was worried when I hadn't heard from him in years, even though he left to live on his own. We had no idea that he was in such trouble. If there's anything we can do to help, just ask. I see that you've already been given a fairy mark, though."

Link smiled, then pointed ahead to Maze Island. He could see the enchantments there, but he couldn't tell what they did. While the path he'd taken to get to Talin had been free of magic, it didn't seem to lead anywhere but that cave. Maybe the fairies would know how to get through.

"That place," she said. "I haven't been there myself, but we should be able to tell the enchantments if they are like our own."

"I've explored the area quite a bit," the older male fairy said. He wore the cap to an acorn on his head, along with some young green leaves for clothes. "If you're headed to the dark temple there, I can lead you to the place, but I don't dare enter it. Are you sure that's enough?"

Link nodded. The extra help on his quest would be repayment enough in any situation.

He nodded. "All right then! I'll show you the right path." He turned to his family. "You two be safe now; I'll be back."

"You're the one who should be careful and safe, sweetie," the female said.

"I wouldn't want to go in those places again," the small fairy said. "So make sure that you do destroy them all." He then flew off with his mother to another part of the beach while the other went with Link along the bridge.

According to the fairy, they would have to pass through some of the enchanted spaces in order to get to the temple. Like with the one he had tried, they were alarms that warped monsters to the paths that they were triggered on. But they could avoid most of the alarm spaces and get to the temple while fighting the least amount of monsters. The fairy even helped out in battle by slowing monsters by enchantment or throwing rocks with telekinesis. At the end of a winding path, the fairy said he would wait outside while Link was inside the temple. Link gave him a nod of gratitude, then headed up the stairs.

This temple was more like the first two he had entered, columns holding up a stone roof without walls except those around the elevator. At the central Ironknuckle statue, the sign stated that this was the 'Temple of the Death of the Mind'. He wasn't sure what to expect out of that, so went down to enter it hoping that he was ready for anything.

Link ended up in the middle of a long hallway. The walls were covered in pictures here. This time, they seemed to be completely nonsensical. There was no rhyme or reason to it, at least that he could tell. There was an eye with a spear through it, a snake that had wings, a set of stairs that seemed impossible to really exist, a collection of straight lines making nothing... and that was just on one section of the wall beside him. Maybe it was supposed to confuse people. Since the passageways went west and east, Link went west. It made more sense for the main part of the temple to be under the island.

After defeating some Wizzrobes with his Silver Arrows (as this set seemed be be able to resist sword attacks), he found an elevator heading down. Link got on and flipped the switch, but then the floor gave out and dropped him without warning. However, he seemed to be falling strangely slow. Was this one of the endless holes that Zelda had mentioned? The shaft widened and there were a few ledges, that he missed.

But then he checked below him and saw one of the fragile bridges over a liquid fire pit. Definitely not the endless pit; Link landed on the bridge and ran for one of the ends, passing over some of the flying horse-head enemies as he did so. That area led to a dead end, but the bridge had restored itself when he returned. Exploring further turned out to be all dead ends in this area, including a second treacherous elevator that carried him up but tried to drop him at every level. Link had to stand on the very edge of the elevator to stay on, a tactic he used on the first one to get back to the entrance area.

Perhaps this temple was just nonsensical. He went east, which should have gotten him into the area close to the ocean. Thankfully, the halls remained dry, if full of warping Wizzrobes and flying panther heads. There were still dead ends and locked doors, but not as long and these locks were not a problem. On the walls, the nonsensical pictures continued, now with some writing which made as little sense as the rest. The presence of 'cow hat enrage jump on leaf and crack smash to slippery mug' made it seem like the words were written up with no consideration of meaning.

When he got to the level where color appeared on the wall drawings, Link cast Life over himself to take care of various injuries he'd taken, mostly when a Wizzrobe teleported just out of his sight to hit him with magic. There were more Wizzrobes in this passageway, and a room of falling blocks, and some Ironknuckles, but with what he had seen of these temples, he expected as much. Further in, he came to a locked door which had some writing on it.

This time, it made some sense. 'What happens when the mind dies? It does not matter if the body still lives. There is nothing that can be done. If your mind dies, you will never be certain what is reality and what is illusion any more. Want to know for certain? Step through this door and you will die while remaining alive. -Carock'

The door was not enchanted, so it must have simply been a boast Carock made about his power and record. Link unlocked the door, then brought out his magic rod to cast Reflect and Shield over himself while he walked through the hall behind it. This brought him into a room with yellow drapes and a red carpet. When he stepped on the carpet and into the room proper, the guardian appeared by teleporting in.

He resembled the Wizzrobes, in particular the variety he saw in this temple. Carock was covered head to toe in a thick orange robe covered with black runes along the edges. As the hood was oversized, his face was left in shadow, if he had a face. His sleeves swept out to become nearly as tall as he was when he spread his arms outward.

"I've been watching your progress this spring," Carock said, in a voice like a loud whisper, bringing his arms in front of his chest. "You have been an extraordinary adventurer, to not be cowed by my weaker peers and to bring four of them down. But, they should have expected no less from the bearer of the Triforce, incomplete as it is." Then he swept his right arm to the side. "Your quest ends with me, though. When you leave this place, your mind will be dead and you will forever be a blithering idiot, lost to the memories of what you have seen in these temples to death. Now die!" He then blasted Link with a spell that resembled a more powerful form of Wave Burn, vanishing as soon as he did.

Link held his shield up in front of him, catching the spell and sending it back into the room. Carock reappeared to cast again, distant from where the first spell was going. Noting that, Link positioned himself to catch the spell, but angle it towards cover most of the room. That had to hit. His first three attempts at that failed.

The fourth time got the mad wizard. "How dare you!" Carock shouted, now sending green bolts of energy at Link. But they too could be reflected, eventually hitting Carock. He next tried a giant wave of water that swept across the whole room. Not expecting that to be reflected, Link braced himself, putting his shield up by his face to lessen the chance of breathing it in. Yet even that water spell got reflected, along with a blast of lightning that fried Carock into explosive ashes when it reflected right back at him.

Keeping his shield close, Link waited for a moment. But Carock did not reappear. He felt like he did when he had defeated Ganon, in disbelief that someone with a feared reputation had been defeated so quickly. Still, Link knew there was no chance he could make himself as powerful with magic as Carock was; turning that power back on the user was the best option.

He went through the next door and found the same altar that had been in the four previous temples. Thinking that Carock might have the power to revive himself quickly, Link knocked the death crystal out of place and set the holy crystal in instead. He warped back out to watch the temple fall.

The fairy was soon beside him. "You're back safe, already? You truly are an amazing adventurer! The trap magic should unravel with the guardian being dead, but I'd better go back with you to be safe."

Link looked up and saw that the sky was darkening. But he didn't want to spend a night on this island, so he and the fairy headed back along the path they had come. At the beach, they met with the other two fairies, who were excited and joyful to hear how things went. The fairy family even stayed at his campsite with him.

"Then you have just one more temple left to conquer," the female said. "That is wonderful to know! Getting rid of the temples of death should unravel yet another piece of Ganon's magic remaining in Hyrule. Maybe it will be completely gone before long."

Link hoped so. But there was a problem left before he could take on the last temple: the spider dragon illusion that blocked the bridge. He might be able to cross the river on his raft, but if it troubled him, that illusion might trouble anyone who tried to travel the roads.

"Spider dragon?" the older male asked. "Oh, you mean the River Devil. It shows up periodically on that bridge. But there is a way to dismiss it. You learned that, didn't you?"

The small fairy drifted back a few inches. "Yeah, I did..." He flew back closer. "There's a song that charms insects and spiders, and it works on the River Devil too. I guess it's not as useful for big people, because insects can't do much for you. But it will let you pass that illusion safely. Do you have a way to make music?"

Link nodded and brought out his recorder. The fairy sang it for him, a song they called Wing Beats; it hit a lot of the high notes, but he was able to play most of it on the recorder. According to them, that should be enough to handle the illusion.

* * *

 

It was a few days after he last saw the fairy family when he arrived at the bridge again. The sky was overcast, rumbling with thunder occasionally. With spring in full force, the river was moving swiftly, swollen with water. There appeared to be no monsters around. Link wondered if they were waiting on the rain to start falling. As the day was growing long, he hoped he'd be able to find a good camping site and set up before that happened.

Again, the River Devil didn't appear until he stepped onto the bridge with the recorder in hand. The spider dragon illusion hissed and gnashed its teeth at him. Link kept calm and played the Wing Beats song. The spider dragon calmed at that, then disappeared with a second round of the song. This time, he saw the magic shrink to a particular point on the bridge. He put the recorder down and walked over there. On the stone rail of the bridge, he saw a black spider about two inches long that did look like the River Devil illusion, but no scales and a shorter thorax so it didn't look as much like a dragon. On its back, it had a white mark formed like a dragon. It stayed still until he waved it away, then the spider scurried off and jumped into the river. While it would probably bring its illusion back later on, Link had a strong feeling that it was just an innocent creature, not a monster. He couldn't bring himself to kill the little thing.

Link moved down the road, which soon fell between two large wooden walls. Looking over them, he wondered what they were there for, why they had been built. It didn't seem like anything that could keep anyone out, unless there was a gate further in. He slowed his steps, coming closer to the wall to touch it.

At that moment, a rock crashed into the ground just ahead of him, where he would have been had he kept going. He looked up and saw the heads of four red Dairas peering at him from the top of the wall. One of them threw another rock at him. He might be able to shoot them with his bow, but with four of them throwing things down at him, that was risky.

Link bolted down the walled walkway, doing his best to keep ahead of the Dairas until he could pass the walls and force them to come down to fight him.

* * *

 

The next few days, it was still raining. Lightning struck, sometimes close by, but Link moved on. Once he exited the rocky area where the Daira's wall had been, he passed by a cemetery (likely the one the woman at the King's Tomb had warned him about), then the start of a swamp, and then a forest. He kept just outside those areas, staying on a large sandy beach that stretched out far beyond the shore, even over a mile at one point. The beach seemed strange, bearing some of the marks of death like the land around the other temples. According to the map, the last temple of death was here.

He wasn't seeing one. Checking the beach, he found that the center of the sickened land to be a place marked by three large boulders standing in the sand, all in a regular triangle. It had to be a significant marker. But how did he get the temple to appear? It wasn't invisible, or he would have either seen it with his magic sense or walked into it exploring the beach. The rocks seemed regular, with no indentations, cracks, or signs of things to do.

Thinking over all his adventures, he recalled that the Moblin dungeon under the lake had not been visible to his magic sense. In a same fashion, he had not seen any particular enchantment on the outdoors room of the temple in the bay. Did that mean that he might be able to use the Unraveling Tune here? He got out his recorder and played it by one of the rocks.

There was a shift in magic, like something tried to trigger. But nothing else happened. Link then moved to a point between the three rocks and tried the tune again. This time, the sands before him began to shift. Then, like the point of a square with the three rocks, the temple of death rose out of the beach and into the air. For a brief time, the falling sand and rain was like a shimmering veil slipping off the object it was hiding.

When the temple stopped rising, Link waited for another minute in case something more happened. Then he stepped onto the sandy floor and crossed over to where the three Ironknuckle statues were. The central one had the usual sign, stating that this was the 'Temple of the Death of the Self'. He shrugged, then went to the elevator to enter the temple proper.

The elevator sent him down through a deep abyss, fitting as the entire upper portion had to have been hidden down here. Then he was given a single passage to travel down, built of a brown-red stone that resembled dried blood in color. Black charcoal drawings were on the walls, depicting simple patterns around faces. At least, they would have been faces if they had defined features. There were black ovals for eyes; many had shading to suggest bone structure and nostrils, a few had lines for lips. But the eyes were empty, there was no individuality, there was no personality. He wondered why they were there for a moment, then realized the faces had no self.

The drawings usually weren't that important, just things to spook anyone who entered. Link passed through the hall and opened up a locked door. The next room held a magical-hammer throwing Doomknocker, a blue Ironknuckle, and a number of Wizzrobes that were hard to count due to their teleporting. Since he'd brought down the other five, the guardian here must be trying to kill him harder than the rest. Between his spells and tools, though, he got through them all.

Once they were all taken care of, Link found himself at the edge of a giant hole. There were a couple of platforms hanging mysteriously in the air, but they both looked fragile. Was this what Zelda had called an endless abyss? It certainly looked big enough, and if it had any bottom, it was obscured by darkness. But on the other side, there was a doorway to further in this level by an Ironknuckle statue. Since he wanted to check over there, he cast Jump so that he could use the fragile platforms as steps to the other side.

The moment he landed there, the Ironknuckle statue turned blue, revealing itself as the real thing. It started trying to force him into the pit. When he tried to jump over it with his enchantment, it backed up quickly, throwing sword beams at him. That battle was harder, primarily because neither of them had much room to move on this ledge and it kept its back to the wall. Even so, he was able to prevail and get past it.

The next few rooms were more of the same, he found himself thinking. They were all things he'd seen before: rooms full of the destroyable blocks with monsters hidden inside, hidden elevators, statues spitting fire at him. The only thing that was really different was a hole in the floor covered in an illusion, but he could see that and use Jump to get over it. The enemies were tougher.

As proven when he stepped into one room and found Gooma, the hunchback giant from the sea palace. Not only that, but Carock the infamous 'undefeated' wizard appeared shortly after. "Your mind and heart are still thriving," Carock said in angry frustration. "Fine, we are not going to be messing around any more. You are going to die, and the only reason it will not be painful and slow is because we need your heart's blood to revive our master. Take that!" Then he struck Link with a lightning spell.

And he hadn't had Reflect active either. It was painful, like a fire burning in his limbs; it was also brief and the rings absorbed enough of it to let him survive. Once he became alert again, Carock had vanished and Gooma was trudging his way. Link got out the magic rod again to case Reflect and Shield. That should take care of the damage they could wield. Then he started using Wave Burn against Gooma. As Link had thought, the spell took Gooma down in just two castings.

"Fine, the curses be on your nourishment!" Carock appeared and sent a spell Link's way that put black rings around him. It did not seem be affected by Reflect. "I'll do what I can, and then Volvagia will have her way with you." He sent the lightning spell against Link again, but this time it rebounded and made Carock die once more in a large explosion which knocked Link to the ground.

For a moment, he stayed on the ground to recover. What he had said worried Link. Curses on his nourishment? He opened up his depth bag and picked out his supplies. His food was all ruined: the fruits had turned black, the nuts and seeds had gone rancid, some traveler's bread had actually grown moldy, and even his healing potions smelled fermented and unsafe. The water seemed okay, but he ended up having to throw the rest of it away. This could end up being a bigger problem than the double boss fights.

But, the other temples hadn't seemed that long, so he got up and moved on, determined to finish it quickly. There was a locked door in Carock and Gooma's room, leading to a treasure room. Something hefty flew into his shoulder, causing a sharp ache that reminded him that he hadn't healed up after that battle. But what had hit him? He looked around quickly and saw, on a shelf on the wall, a white cross on a fibrous cord. Its paint looked faded and the wood seemed petrified. An old cross? Wasn't that what he needed to cross through the one graveyard safely? He took it off the shelf for a closer look.

Then a strange purple creature appeared in the air, like an eye with wings for eyelids heading for him. Link got out of the way and quickly killed it with his sword. Well, the cross certainly worked as the old woman suggested. He put the cord around his neck with the Triforce, then got out the magic rod so that he could heal himself before moving on.

Before he went back to the large pit, Link tried jumping down through the fake floor. A red Ironknuckle and a cluster of skull bubbles were waiting for him, but that wasn't a problem. This turned out to be a dead end, leading back to the elevator that had been hidden in the alcove. With this area fully explored, he headed back to the large pit. Once there, he took the Master Sword in hand, then jumped down and kept an eye on what was coming under him.

He seemed to be falling slower than normal; streams of magic power flowed in this hole, slowing him down and apparently causing him to loop through several levels of the temple. The first couple of levels were dead-ends, thankfully short. After a few rounds of this, he managed to land on the east end of one of the levels, where another Blue Ironknuckle tried to bully him back into the pit. But this was a larger area, so he was able to defeat it quickly.


	19. Death of the Self

Further into the temple, Link came across another elevator. Thinking that the guardian might be done there, he took it down. This time, he was surprised that one of the walls was missing as he traveled in the elevator. There was another pit in this temple, it seemed, and in the wall opposite with seemingly no way to reach it, there was a corridor. The unusual placement of it suggested that something was important that way. And as that hinted, he only found dead ends at the bottom of the elevator and the pit. There was only one way into there that he could think of, and that was transforming into a fairy and flying up there. With the way it sat in the wall and the lack of the magic in the endless pit, he didn't think he could land in it jumping from above.

He changed out of being a fairy once he reached the corridor and followed it into a large open room. It didn't have the drapes and carpet of a guardian's room, so Link didn't think this was the right place. However, there was a locked door.

And in front of that was the blue Ironknuckle and his ghostly horse. He raised his lance at Link as he came further in. "Halt, foolish hero. You should beware going any further. Volvagia will give you a hard time. Even if you should prevail here, you won't be able to bring down the Mountain Palace. Thunderbird fears nothing but another who can command storms; there is no power you have that can accomplish this. You may as well give up here and die."

Link shook his head, but he took mental note of what the Ironknuckle said. To command storms in order to do something about Thunderbird, who kept Princess Zelda's curse intact… he'd have to figure out something. For now, he kept his sword in hand and thought over where his bomb bag was stored. The depletion of his supplies made it easier to pick it out, although that wasn't much of an advantage in the long run.

After defeating the Blue Ironknuckle Rider as before, he passed through the locked door and spotted a red and gold carpet on the floor ahead. So this was it, the sixth and last guardian. Still, something was strange. At the end of the corridor, he could see the red and gold drapes that should be on the ceiling of the guardian's room, but little of the room itself. What was ahead?

The answer to that was a room where the entrance was high, the carpet was missing, and the hole had large pits filled with liquid fire, giving only narrow walkways for him to battle on. It was dangerous, but he couldn't let that deter him at this point. Dropping down carefully to land on stone floor rather than liquid fire, Link searched around for signs of the guardian.

She burst out of one of the fire pits, a dragon with fiery scales and long fins formed like flames. Instead of speaking, she roared, sending a blast of fire breath his way. Link ran along the walkways, thinking. Her neck was long and she looked down at him with fierce intensity. Looking at her, he noticed that her scales formed a tight defense against the fire and attacks. He got out the rod to cast spells to prepare: Shield for better defense against that firestorm coming out of her mouth, Reflect just in case it helped deflect the flames, and then Jump so that he had some extra control over where he landed if he needed to get away. Then he struck her with the rod as he passed by.

It apparently did nothing, although she quickly descended back into the fire pit. Link moved to the edge of the room, just in case. A moment later, Volvagia rose out of another fire pit to breath fire at him once more. Now that he had put away the rod, he tried to slash at her neck with the Master Sword. Sparks flew off her scales, but not a scratch appeared on them.

Now it was just down to experimentation. His first bomb fell into the firepit and sent the liquid fire flying all over the area. With the second, he managed to time it right to explode before it hit the fire. Volvagia stopped her fire attack, darting down to snap her jaws at him. Thankfully, his defensive spells kept him from being turned into a bloody mess. His one attack spell, being fire based, probably wouldn't do any good.

He tried the bow, but even the Silver Arrows went up in flames and failed to pierce her scales. He even dug out his boomerang, although like he was afraid of, it did nothing either. Something had to work; it'd be a terrible turn to learn that the one thing that would work was not in his possession. He had plenty of time to keep the other temples from being remade, but he'd preferred it if he could do something now.

Then, partly by luck, he struck Volvagia with the Master Sword at her snout, causing her to roar in indignation and stop there to snap back at him. So that was it, her head scales must have been weaker. While she was there, he thrust the sword at her eyes, taking out one of them. Volvagia then retreated to the fire pits, so he ran back to the edges.

When she came back, her eye was completely healed. Link had brought out his bow and tried to fire an arrow at her head. He had to jump out of the fire attack and try again, as the arrow got turned to ashes. From the side, he could hit one of frills at the side of her head. This made her drop back down to attack lower. Observation was hard as he had to keep dodging her attacks, but it seemed she was injured as he could briefly see the cuts he had made. This would just take longer than the rest.

But in the end, even Volvagia wasn't invincible. She crumbled to dust although her fire pits remained. After waiting a moment just in case there was another guardian or surprise waiting for him, Link made his way over to the locked door and passed through to the alter. Then he placed the last holy crystal in place of the last death crystal, and got out of there.

Now he had to worry about how to get food now. Double-checking the map (once he got into a wind shadow in the rock to avoid the remaining rain), there didn't seem to be a town south of the river. There were mountains that split northern Hyrule from southern, past the portion of the ocean nearby. There was the Wood Wind Melody, but the randomness of it still made him wary.

"Is that the temple of death here?" a deep voice said nearby. When he looked, there were a pair of Gorons walking his way. They both wore huge sacks on their back, big enough that they might be able to fit him inside with space to spare. "We've never actually seen it, although its effects are obvious on the ground and rocks. You're out to destroy them? It's a hard task, human, but you've done well to bring down one."

Link smiled and brought up his hands, trying to indicate that he'd taken down all six of them.

"Yeah, there's six," the Goron said.

"Wait, do you mean you've taken care of all six?" the other Goron said. "That's amazing! Oh, and special thanks for taking care of this one. The dragon inside of there, Volvagia, it sometimes got into the mining tunnels and would eat Gorons. It will be wonderful not to worry about it."

He nodded, then spent a couple of minutes trying to start a trade or buy things off them. They looked like traders and that turned out to be true. "We can't be making any deals right now," one of them told him. "We're heading to the new town of Kasuto to trade with them, and make sure they're settling in well."

Kasuto? That was the town that had been destroyed in southern Hyrule last fall. So this was where they had ended up. In that case, he decided to travel with the two Gorons. Hopefully Kasuto's new location wasn't far, or else these friendly merchants might be targeted.

The Gorons made a surprisingly good pace, even when they went into the forest. The three of them had to pass through a rock tunnel, where there were monsters that the Gorons had no trouble smashing (although Link helped, mostly in using Wave Burn as the armored Tektites were weak to fire). Past that, there was a wooded area where the residents of Kasuto had started building a town and farms.

Once there, the people recognized Link as the one who had helped him and gladly welcomed him to their new home. He was still concerned about them getting attacked like Mido, but he did have to restock on supplies and figure out that hint about storms. Was there a wizard who lived in Kasuto? He knew there were witches, so he took some time to find the elder witch who had given him the healing medicine.

She had a new shop, sparse for now but with some herbs already drying on racks on the wall. "Ah, Link, our young hero," she said, smiling to him and bowing her head. "We're glad you've been able to find us. Is there anything we can help you with? It's late, but I'm sure no one will charge you to stay."

He shrugged, then brought out his spell book for her. Wishing there was a fairy around to translate, he tried to indicate the storm clouds. Eventually, she got him some paper and charcoal to write out his request. Some things were just too complicated to communicate when he didn't know the other person well enough.

"So to defeat Thunderbird, you need to be able to control storms," the old woman said while reading it. "My knowledge isn't good for that, but I do know someone who studies magic more like that. He has been able to call rains for the farmers in dry spells, but not storms. Well, he may know something else. Let me write you a note for him and tell you how to find his house." She then took the paper and added onto it.

With that, he was sent to the edges of town, to a small wooden building that was near the foundation to a large stone house. Inside the shack, he found the wizard and his two apprentices. They recognized him too, so he gave them a bow for a greeting, then handed over the note for an explanation of why he was here.

"You want to defeat that beast?" the wizard asked. "That is something that I would call foolhardy. However, I have heard tales of you from travelers, that you have defeated Ganon himself, and have just conquered the six temples of death in northern Hyrule. You truly do deserve the Triforce of Power." He then went to one of his tall bookshelves and searched for a particular book. "It sounds like the spell Thunder would work best for you. It's a difficult spell and drains a lot of energy. Take care in how you use it, but I hope it does what you need it for."

Link nodded; he figured that whatever could 'control a storm' had to be potent magic. Once he had it, he checked the spell book. 'Thunder- calls a single powerful bolt of lightning to strike all foes in close range. One of the most destructive spells known. Take great care.' And if the spellbook didn't try to crack a joke about it, the spell had to be serious business.

With that in hand, he gave the wizard a second bow as thanks, then made his way out of the town of New Kasuto. If he got the final piece of the Triforce, would he be able to stop this constant self-exile? He most hoped that he wouldn't have to leave Zelda because of it. He was doing this in hopes that he could be with her, not so that it would keep them apart for the rest of his life.

That night, he prayed to the Goddesses that things would go right.

* * *

 

Two days later, Link came back to the graveyard south of the river. The ground here had a reddish hue, as if the blood from the battle still remained. With the blessing of the old cross, he was able to see purple Moas flying all over the graveyard. They kept in swarms, so it wasn't too hard to evade the majority of them. Not only that, but it turned out that the magical boomerang could take them out as easily as the bats and aches.

The graves ended after a few yards, but the red earth did not. According to the map, he had entered the Valley of Death. The name felt appropriate; the valley was silent, save for occasional war cries from monsters that spotted him passing through. There was a sense that great tragedy had occurred. Maybe a hundred years ago, maybe just yesterday. Being abandoned made it timeless save for the passing of the sun overhead.

It was a long and winding road, where pits were filled with liquid fire and no plants would grow. At the end of it, he found what could be his final challenge: Mountain Palace. It sat under a dome of dark energy, but had the same architectural look as the temples: grand columns holding up a stone roof, grand statues standing at the entrance. But not of Ironknuckles this time. These statues seemed to be some kind of great bird, or even a griffon. One foot was raised, baring its claws in a challenge. Its short hooked beak was open, as if it was ready to call out and attack. All five of the statues there were of this battle-ready bird. There was no sign to this place, just the threat from the statues.

When he stopped near the energy field, it shattered six times to dispel completely. There were a few orange Moas flying around, but they were easy to avoid as he made his way into the elevator to head down inside. He spent that moment he had bracing himself for what lay ahead. He could feel and see Ganon's power soaked into this place; the tyrant's soul might have come here as it would be unreachable until the temples fell.

He was resolved to finish this, and that feeling resonated with the Triforce. The golden artifact around his neck began to glow, reaching out towards its final lost piece. In Ganon's living palace, it had led him around on a good path to rescue the younger Zelda. Surely it would help lead him through this place.

The elevator stopped and Link got a good look at four corridors to choose from, all done in yellow and orange bricks that almost looked like gold. Then black fog obscured his vision. He could see in a three foot sphere around himself, but nothing more. As it must have been magical, he got the magic rod and used it to cast Light. Nothing changed. The magic that made this was more powerful than his own.

In the darkness, a deep laugh came from all around him. "Surprised? You have faced death and gone beyond it, straight into the greatest focus of my power remaining. Now that I have you in my grasp, I am not going to let you escape alive."

Ganon was here, as he had gone beyond death as well. But he hadn't struck Link dead yet. Maybe he couldn't. The Triforce was leading him to the south, so he followed its lead.

"This palace stretches across the Valley of Death, in all directions," Ganon told him. "There are hundreds of passages, over a dozen levels. With this magnificent maze and my own darkness clouding your future, you have no clue about where to go. You shouldn't move forward so confidently, or that will lead to an early and disappointing end."

At that point, another circle of light appeared ahead, surrounding a red bird creature that matched the statues in front. It screeched and began flinging fireballs towards him. While the fire didn't immediately reach him, they continued to bounce and roll in the direction they had been thrown. Whatever Ganon thought, his words indicated that he did not see the light of the Triforce. Link dodged the fire and went to battle the bird, sword to claw.

It was tougher, about the same level as the Ironknuckles surprisingly. But the red bird was defeated and Link moved on. At first, Ganon didn't speak up again. The darkness remained, so Link followed his guide, down an elevator, through a monster-filled passage, down another elevator, fighting more monsters...

"You're getting bored," Ganon said, trying to make some 'wise' observation. "How long have you been traveling like this? You must have been in many dungeons to gather all those pieces and to enter this place. You've fought so many monsters, and navigated so many dungeons. Why do you keep moving ahead? But more importantly, what are you going to do after this? Can someone like you really settle down to a quiet life after this? You will find it hard to put away your sword and magic, being constantly on alert to enemies. And you may never be certain that you've defeated all of my minions. They will continue to hunt you down, no matter where you are, no matter who you are with. You will never be able to live in normal society again." Ganon laughed at him again. "Some reward, isn't it hero?" He spoke hero with a special sneer, still mocking him for trying. "Is this seemingly selfless crusade of yours, to break up my power, really worth what you have put into it? All that you have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice... it will become a lost cause when you die and I can be reborn. For I will never give up."

Link did his best to shut out Ganon's taunting, his attempts to strengthen doubts. He remembered what Ganon had done: forced villages like his into fearful servitude, destroyed Old Kasuto entirely, warped the very landscape of Hyrule itself, created monsters like Carock, the Gleeoks, and Thunderbird, cursed Princess Zelda at her refusal to tell him more about the Triforce... those reasons and so many more were enough to fight and do all he could to undo this great evil. What would he get himself? Deep in his heart, he did fear having to live a life of constant travel and little contact with others. But he was doing the work of the Goddesses. He had to believe that they would come through for him.

Then, a light came through to illuminate a monster that was coming at him with incredible speed. It seemed to be half hawk and half man, leaping up to come down on top of him hard. He dashed out of the way, but it turned out to be as fast in combat as it was in movement. Keeping his shield up, Link found himself hard pressed to strike back. In his opinion, this was even tougher than fighting some of the guardians. He was able to defeat it, but had to heal himself. Luckily, it dropped a fragile jar of magic potion. From experience, he knew that these items tended to turn to dust within an hour or upon being used. He had gotten into the habit of using them right off or leaving them behind.

Ganon grumbled at that. "Don't worry; that's far from the only Dreadhawk in here. There will be many more, including one that's even tougher."

Dreadhawk. With the warning that there were more, Link proceeded at a slower pace in hopes of catching them when they were still far off. The Triforce continued to lead him further down and around the palace. With the ring of darkness around him, this place seemed endless. He had to stop for a break after he'd walked far enough that he would have come to the end of the dungeon in any of the other temples. This one just kept going, and throwing tough monsters like the red birds, skull bubbles, and Dreadhawks at him.

At one point, there was even a giant Bot. He had barely thought about the quivering blue and red blobs in northern Hyrule before, as they were so simple to defeat. But this one was as tall as he was, and about as wide as a house. It had appeared above him, jumping down to land on his head if he hadn't backed off quickly. A single strike of the Master Sword forced it to split into a dozen Bots, but then they turned out to be much tougher than normal.

"You're coming up on your doom," Ganon said, sounding angered. "And then I will force your soul to wander these halls for eternity, tormenting you until you succumb to my power and become one of my slaves! Is the glory of being a hero, especially a failed one, worth that? You've been lucky all along. There's no way a simple fisher boy like you could have done as much as you have without another power controlling you. You are not worthy of the blade in your hands."

He was getting desperate to discourage me, Link thought. Ganon must have realized that he had been following the correct path through Mountain Palace all along. While it gave him hope to see the end of this soon, he had to be coming up on a challenging fight against Thunderbird.

At that point, the Triforce directed him through the floor, strangely enough. Link knelt down and found that here, the orange blocks had the same texture and quality as the blue blocks he'd been able to destroy. He punched a few away, revealing a hole hidden by a false floor. Nodding, he dropped down through the false floor and into a large open space. The darkness retreated further, revealing dark red carpet covering the floor. A poor floor for a battle, as it was broken up by small sets of stairs and platforms leading nowhere in particular. Dark red drapes hung from the ceiling far above, barely visible due to the magical darkness. A guardian's room.

And then it appeared, with an unearthly cry that was closest to the scream of a gale ripping over the land. Lightning leapt across the room, preceding a rain of liquid fire. Thunderbird was a bright red haze with bizarre patterns moving around its body. While much of its body was like a fog, it did have a face, a blank mask that resembled the pictures that had been in the sixth temple he'd been in. It drifted through the room, sending fireballs at him.

Strange that this creature didn't talk, Link thought. But then, neither had Volvagia. He got out his Magic Rod and spellbook, taking a quick reference of the word for Thunder before casting it. In a matter of seconds, a tremendous power gathered within him, then departed into a stroke of bright white lightning in the center of the room. The noise was tremendous, briefly drowning out Thunderbird's scream of pain and rage. It had turned from red to blue, and its symbols were not as distinct. But then, its mask was even more detailed, turned into a visage of hatred and pain.

Despite the obvious effect, Link did not feel like he could manage another casting of Thunder. So he settled for the reliable set of two spells that got him through many tough fights: Shield and Jump. Thunderbird liked to stay high in the room, but with Jump Link could get in good range to strike with the Master Sword. When Thunderbird began to panic, drifting faster and summoning more fireballs, he backed off and switched to the bow, firing an arrow whenever he got a moment to aim at its mask.

Then he struck a crack in the mask, causing it to shatter and crumble to pieces. Thunderbird shrieked again as the curse that made it up unraveled; gray feathers flew through the air, only to disappear when they hit the floor. The spell was fully breaking. Over in North Palace, the elder Zelda should be awakening after a century long sleep.

Link was about to sigh in relief, but then the aura of darkness drew in faster, leaving him with only the golden light of the Triforce. Ganon's voice reached his ears, sounding much weaker than before. "You... you dirty commoner... why do you continue to fight? There is nothing good for you to look forward to, nothing. In fact, let me show you what you are turning into: a mysterious stranger who best knows how to kill and is feared once everyone sees the darkness appear through his shining armor."

The darkness retreated, but left the air with an ominous dark blue lighting. At his feet, Link noticed his shadow growing in a strange manner. It departed from him, gathering ten feet ahead of him. Then it rose out of the floor, a dark silhouette that matched his own. The dark mockery of him drew a sword as dark and featureless as he was and leapt at him in attack.

Link caught his sword with his shield and made to strike back. The silhouette parried his attack, turning it into a counter attack. Was he this aggressive in battle? That was definitely not how he wanted to look to others. But no matter what Ganon thought, killing was not the only thing he could do. It was something he didn't want to do. Still, the monsters were magical constructs, most of them unintelligent and unaware. Most that were intelligent were as cruel and twisted as their maker, like the Temple Guardians. A few were good like the old Moblin with the flute or even innocent like the little spider known as the River Devil. However, these ones were easy to pick apart from the others as they did not seek to attack and harass others. The true monsters had to be killed to be stopped.

His reason for fighting was to protect others, not to harm them. As he thought that, he realized that he didn't need to fear becoming that dark silhouette as long as he remembered what he was fighting for. It might not be easy to come away from this; it hadn't been easy to live in North Castle this past winter and he had mostly managed by training. But he had someone waiting on him to return. Someone that he loved. Thus, he couldn't let himself fall to this mockery of himself.

With this resolve, Link fought back. The silhouette was difficult like the Dreadhawks, quick, strong, and tough. Not only that, but it seemed to have access to everything he had and knew: spells, sword techniques, bombs, arrows, even a boomerang. But it was not fighting with equal tactics. It could block and parry, but if he got it to do something other than use its sword, he could get a strong hit or two of his own in. In a few minutes, even this shadow of himself was defeated.

Link heard a scream of rage from Ganon, but it seemed faint and far away now. The dark atmosphere lifted, leaving him in the semi-golden building he had first seen. Even the feeling of being watched by vengeful spirits was gone. Now he could feel more relaxed. Could, but he probably shouldn't in case Ganon had left another Dreadhawk in the next room. Link went to the one door in the room and unlocked it to go through.

It was like the shrines that had been in the temples of death, but the large ominous statue had been destroyed long ago. In its place, there was a sliver of gold floating in the air, surrounded by a golden glow that reached out to the other pieces. Link walked up to it and took it out of the air. A warm magic entered his hand. Without words, he felt that the Triforce of Courage would give a test to anyone who had managed to gather all its fragments. Defeating Ganon's final two servants had proven him worthy of holding it. With that reassurance, he set the last fragment into the Triforce of Courage.

His quest had started with three pieces of Courage, and a fourth marked the end. On being fully reconstructed the Triforce released him, taking the chain back and growing to be nearly as large as his torso. The room around him twisted, then he was warped out of Mountain Palace to watch it being turned to dust just like the rest. It had become a stronghold of evil, so it and the six temples connected to it needed to be fully demolished.

With that, he felt something greater breaking down: Ganon's hold over the land of Hyrule. The Triforce looked into his heart and soul, then reflected what it saw there into both northern and southern Hyrule. The curses Ganon had left behind were reversed; many of the dungeons vanished, taking the monsters based in them with them. The earth, sky, and water became empowered with light, promising a bountiful year ahead with many more to come. Now many more people could relax and focus on enjoying their lives.

Even as he felt this, Link also felt the presence of Ganon's soul. It remained in the Valley of Death, defiant and defiled. He was defending himself against the light of the Triforce so that he was not fully destroyed. Even with the land rejuvenated, Ganon's soul would remain and eventually be reborn to spread evil through the land again. Not only that, but the curse that was within him, the curse to silence, that remained.

"Link, a hero of courage, wisdom, and power," the voices of the Goddesses said to him. He looked around, but did not see them. "You have faced many obstacles and doubts, but you held firm to your desire for justice and peace. You have traveled far and wide, undoing the great evil that Ganon had sown throughout Hyrule. People will speak of your deeds for generations to come; you have done well. What do you desire from the Triforce? You may ask of anything with your heart. We will know what it is that you want."

Link closed his eyes, feeling the power of the Triforce filling his body. He could have any wish he wanted. What did he want? He wanted to have a quiet life now, able to make an honest living. But he could work on that himself now that Ganon's monsters were scattered and weakened. He wanted to win the heart of the elder Zelda. But, he felt that he could accomplish that himself as well. If their dance last winter and her willingness to project herself all over Hyrule to guide, help, and even just talk with him were any hint, it wouldn't even be as hard as having a quiet life.

He could ask for the curse of silence to be revoked. However, something else occurred to him. Ganon was planning on being resurrected. Maybe with Link's blood, maybe with another dark magic. It was going to happen, probably long after he was gone. Would someone rise up to defend the land against him once again? He had done so. However, there were so many people who could have done the same, people who were better than him in various things but had not succeeded. Josiah the Zora sword master, Dupree the strange dungeon explorer, the old wizard who had taught him Thunder, the Captain of the Guard in North Castle, even Impa the Princess' handmaiden as she had defeated at least one Lynel barehanded. They were all capable people who had instructed him in one thing or another, and none of them had succeeded against Ganon's might. Maybe it was a combination of skills that had been needed. Or, maybe something more that he wasn't certain of.

Whatever the reason had been for his ability to do what those masters had not, Link knew for certain that he wanted to continue to protect the lands and peoples of Hyrule. Ganon would be reborn. If there was some way that he could be reborn too, whenever Ganon rose to power once again, then he wanted to do that. He wanted to be a defender of Hyrule, in this life and in any more to follow.

"To have such power in your hands and wish for that... it may be the best proof of being a true hero that there ever was. Your wish will be granted; your life will also be full of our blessings. We will be watching over you for all of time. Thank you, for all that you have done."

Then the glow of the Triforce disappeared as it shrank back down to its small size. And further... the Triforce seemed to disappear entirely. But on the back of his hand, the glow reappeared as its mark became permanent. Perhaps even to his very soul; he was now marked as a hero and defender of Hyrule for all of time.

And he would be. Link gave a deep bow to the Goddesses, then turned and walked back through the Valley of Death. It was time to return to North Castle.

* * *

 

Flags lined the road he walked along for the final mile to North Castle. Link saluted the guards on the road and was allowed further in. Shortly after that, the bells began to ring. They must have been planning on a grand welcome and were just waiting on his arrival to begin.

As he got within a few feet of the castle, the drawbridge lowered and the gates lifted, without even a signed request from him. Link walked along at a steady pace, still observing all that was around him. Everything seemed brighter already, full of new life. The moat waters were sparkling and the trees were rich green and lush. As the younger Zelda had said, Hyrule really was a beautiful land. He wondered how his home and the rest of southern Hyrule would look now that the Triforce had been restored.

People were waiting on the other side of the drawbridge, cheering with great spirit when they saw him. The royal family was right in the center of the front courtyard: the Queen, the King, the younger Princess, and the elder Princess. Stopping a few feet from them, Link gave a bow to the four of them. When he looked up, his eyes went right to the elder Princess Zelda, the one who had been cursed with an endless sleep.

She stepped forward, dressed in a new dress of deep purple, pearl white, and gold. Her hair was tied back simply with a white ribbon, with a gold tiara on her head. And, she smiled so warmly at him, full of gratitude and relief, even love. Zelda offered her right hand to him. "Link, welcome back. You have prevailed against all odds and restored the lands of Hyrule to their true glory. We do not have enough words to express all our gratitude for your selflessness and sacrifice. Is there anything you wish to say?"

Taking her hand, he smiled and shook his head. In this moment, looking into her eyes and holding her hand, he felt like there would be no reward greater than having her love and being by her side for the rest of his life. He kissed her hand and knew that he needed no words to express that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter in particular really illustrates some of the things that interest me about Link: his selfless heroism and the question about what happens to that kind of hero after their adventures are over. Ganon does have some good points. Link could become like that dark version of himself, or he could be unable to adapt to a peaceful life after such grueling dungeons and battles. In fact, a lot of video game heroes could be questioned like that in fanfiction. But for this story, I just wanted to focus on what an adventure is like when you can't speak for yourself well.
> 
> That does it for Voiceless! I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!


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